XFiles VG
by Fictionnaire
Summary: Agents Mulder and Scully disappear... Skinner enlists the help of Seattle Field Office where Agent Willmore is put on the case. Can he figure out what happened. Based on The first X-File game.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own anything in this story. This is a novelization of the first X-Files game where Agent Craig Willmore investigates the disappearance of Agent Mulder and Agent Scully.**

TEASER!

Mulder and Scully pulled up to where the warehouse was and stepped out of the car. They approached the doors without speaking and Scully watched him pick the lock. This was something she hated him doing but never voiced her opinion. He fiddled around with the lock picking tool until the padlock finally sprung open.

The large door opened with a loud squeak which echoed through the empty warehouse. Scully half closed it behind her. Mulder raised his hand to point to the other end. There was something on the floor. They both bent down and Mulder picked up some of the black powder in his fingers and examined it before throwing it to the ground as they looked around.

Three armed men walked in with their firearms drawn and began rapid firing at the two agents. Mulder tackled Scully to the ground to protect her from the gunmen. Before the gunmen could go any further, Mulder heard their screams of terror echo as the Warehouse filled up with a bright light that engulfed everything. And then… Silence.

Scully lay still beside him and he quickly got to his feet once the bright white light disappeared. He had his gun drawn but there was no sign of the shooters. They were just gone. For awhile he stood there trying to take in what had just happened.

* * *

_CUE: X-FILES TITLE THEME:_

_Starring: Jordan Lee Williams, James Lynch, Mitch Pileggi, Sean Griffin, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Paige Witte_

_Guest Starring: Tom Braidwood, Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund, Steve Williams and Robert Isaac Lee._

* * *

FBI FIELD OFFIC, SEATTLE

Agent Craig Willmore walked hurriedly in the direction of his office. He knew that he was late and his superior, Shanks would not be impressed. The first person he saw was fellow FBI Agent Mark Cook. He was walking out of his office and quickly approached him as soon as he saw Willmore.

"Why Agent Willmore." Cook greeted him.

"Why Agent Cook." He responded quickly.

Agent Cook was just shorter than he was and had somewhat of a receding hairline which made him appear older than he really was.

"You picked a great day to be late." Cook said without breaking his tone, "There's some big gun in from DC. I don't know what's up but it's serious."

Willmore thought for a moment as he ran through his hand through his spiky black fringe, "Did he say anything to you?" He asked. Perhaps these were part of the budget or staff cutbacks.

"No." Cook answered.

"Did he ask about me?" Willmore asked, perhaps that was why Cook was in such a hurry to see him.

"Calm down my friend." Cook replied, "You're starting to look a little guilty."

He watched Cook head back to his office before heading into the locker to retrieve his FBI pack. Which had everything in it and he found pockets to put them in. Next thing was to go to his office as soon as he sat down at the desk, his telephone rung. Before answering it, Willmore reached into the top drawer to retrieve his weapon and handcuffs.

"Willmore." He answered the phone.

"Agent Willmore." It was Shanks on the other end of the phone, "I want to see you in my office."

Agent Willmore hung up the phone and checked through his case files. Sure his superior didn't want him drop everything and run. He then ripped off some sticky tape from the tape roll and attached it to his nose. This was something he always did before entering Shanks' office, it was kind of like a test to see how keen his superior's observation skills were.

"Come in." Shanks told him, "This is Assistant Director Skinner."

"Agent Willmore." Skinner looked like a seasoned veteran and had an overpowering air about him.

"Sir." Willmore greeted as they shook hands.

Shanks gestured for him to have a seat so he did so.

"Two of my agents are missing." Skinner got right down to business, "Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully." Skinner handed Willmore the file and he looked at the photos of a redhead and her hazel eyed partner, "I haven't heard from them in three days. I'm extremely concerned." He didn't really show it though.

"Were they romantically involved?" Willmore asked.

"I don't know." Skinner answered, "I don't think so." Through the lenses, Willmore could see that Skinner was measuring him up. To see if he was talented enough to find his precious agents.

"Where were they last seen?" Willmore asked.

"In my office in DC right before they left." Came the answer.

"What case were they working on?"

"I'm not quite sure." Their superior didn't even know what they were doing? "All I have is this travel requisition that showed they were travelling through Washington."

Willmore looked over at Shanks, "These two agents were able to function with a high degree of autonomy due to the nature of the cases they pursued."

Willmore took the travel requisition and noted that AD Skinner squirmed a little in his seat when Shanks mentioned, 'nature of the cases they pursued.' There was something that they weren't telling him.

"Can I get their cell phone numbers?" Willmore asked.

"You'll find them in their dossier." Skinner answered, "But they're not answering."

"Have they disappeared before?"

"No not like this." Skinner answered.

"Have they been romantically involved in the past?" Willmore wondered if the reason why he was being so tightlipped was that maybe his two agents were not so professional.

"As I say I don't know." Skinner answered directly, "I don't believe so."

"Should Cook be involved in this investigation?" Willmore asked SAIC Shanks.

"It's up to you really." Shanks responded, "You know the Bureau's policy on backup. I suggest you use all available resources." He said.

"You know of anything unusual in Everett?" Willmore asked Shanks.

"There's nothing that I'm aware of." Shanks answered.

"What should I do with my current cases?"

"Hand them off to Cook." Shanks said, "I know he's busy but this is priority." Willmore stood up to leave the office, "File an APB out on Agents Mulder and Scully. Then give your current case files to Cook. AD Skinner will join you shortly."

Willmore walked out into the main hallway and was immediately intercepted by Cook, "So?" Cook said, "Ok… What's happening? You can't just sit on this… You have to tell me what's happening." Cook wanted to be in on everything and Willmore was quite use to that by now.

"A couple of agents have disappeared." Willmore spoke in a quiet and serious tone, "From DC… Agent Mulder and Scully. They've been gone for three days."

Cook bit his lip as he headed back to his office. Disappearing agents always had a profound effect on other agents even if they hadn't known each other, "I'm guessing I know what Shanks wants you to do with your current cases." Cook looked up from his desk and smiled a friendly smile.

"Shanks wants me to hand my cases off to you." Willmore said. They were Shanks' words not his. It might not seem too bad as this was what Cook had been expecting.

"Great." Cook mocked as he took the case files from Willmore's outstretched hand, "Thanks Golden Boy."

"What cases you working on?" Willmore enquired.

"Counterfeiters." Cook said, "And a militia group that's still active in the Northern Cascade and I'm assisting the DA with a meth lab ring."

He already sounded like he had his hands full. In this point of time, Willmore felt sorry for him, obviously he was getting snowed under. Skinner met Willmore in the hallway as he put something in his pocket.

"I suggest that we start at the Motel where Mulder and Scully disappeared." Skinner said, "I'll meet you in the car." Skinner walked past him.

He wasn't too sure what to make of the Assistant Director. Skinner obviously cared much about these two agents but he wasn't going around voicing it. It was either very professional or that he was hiding something. Maybe Skinner knew more than he was telling.


	2. Chapter 2

_**X-FILES VG: The Novelization**_

_**A/N: You know the story… I own nothing on this.**_

Agent Willmore programmed the route into his PDA for the Comity Inn in Everett. They didn't spend too much time in the car talking. Skinner wasn't one for idle chit-chat. The two walked into the Inn registry. A young woman was sitting at behind the registry desk with her head in a school book. She didn't seem to notice them enter.

Willmore was getting annoyed that the woman didn't acknowledge him straight away. Didn't she realize that his time was important?

_DING!_ Willmore hit the desk bell.

"Please don't do that." The woman said, "Do you know how many people do that while I'm sitting here?"

"No." Willmore answered.

"Well you're not the first." She told him.

He could feel Skinner boring a whole in the back of his head with his beady eyes. But nobody acts rude to Agent Willmore, especially when he's hard at work on a case.

_DING!_ He rung the bell again just to be annoying.

"What are you? A child?" The woman snapped, "I said, don't do that."

Willmore showed his FBI ID to the woman so that she would answer all the questions he asked her. If not, she'd be hindering his investigation, "We're looking for information on two FBI agents who've checked in here."

"Mm-hmm." This sounded like a typical response, "And their names would be?"

Skinner spoke up, "Agents Mulder and Scully."

"Oh yeah." The woman answered, acting nicer to the older man, "They paid for a week in advance. Rooms three and four."

"Did you notice anything unusual about the two agents?" Willmore asked her.

"Umm." She said after awhile of recollecting, "The guy was kind of spooky but other than that, no."

"Did anything unusual occur while they were here?" He asked. The woman wasn't volunteering any information willingly.

"Not that I can remember." She answered.

"Do you have the make and license number of their rental car in your records?" Willmore asked.

"Sure it's on the form… Assuming they were telling the truth."

"Do you mind writing it down for me?" He asked in a nice tone. She wrote it down without any argument. But her body language did all the arguing on her behalf. The woman gave a small smile, "Will you take us to their rooms please?"

"Sure come this way."

"Here you go." The woman said as she opened the door to the room, "This is his room. She was in the one next door."

Willmore and Skinner entered the room as well, "Thank you." Willmore said.

"I hope there are no dead bodies in here." The woman said as she unlocked the door that was a barrier for the adjoining rooms, "I got finals coming up next week."

Willmore picked up the alcohol bottle by placing his finger through the top and showed it to Skinner. It was empty.

"You can get in and out through here." She said.

"Did they ask you unlock those two doors?" Willmore asked.

"Did they look unlocked?" She answered clearly annoyed, "No they didn't."

"Thank you." Skinner said as Willmore's eyes scanned around the room, "We'll uh let you know if there's anything else."

"You know where to find me."

Willmore began looking around the room, searching for any kind of clue that could be around. Skinner walked in between him and the window, "Why don't you take Mulder's room?" He said, "I'll take Scully's."

Willmore turned on the television set and saw an old Keystone Cop, slapstick show on the television. It was downright crazy and loud. The movie made absolutely no sense at all. Beside the beer bottle was an ashtray full of sunflower seeds. Willmore went into Scully's room to meet up with Skinner again.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary here." Skinner told Willmore, "I must say that it's beginning to look bad. But I found Scully's laptop."

"Shall we check the outgoing calls?" Willmore asked.

"That's a good idea." Skinner answered, "The hotel clerk probably has a record."

"How long have you known them?" Willmore asked. By the sounds of it, Skinner had been their superior for quite some time if he was willing to give them such a loose leash.

"Four years now. I've known Mulder ever since he come. For about seven years." Skinner thought carefully.

"It would be helpful to know what case they were working on." Willmore prodded for an answer. It seemed he was being tightlipped. Their superior should know what case they were on.

"Yes." Skinner said. Was he trying to avoid eye contact, "Yes it would be helpful. Listen, I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to them in the past tense, huh?"

Willmore hadn't realized that he was doing that. So he made a mental note to refer to the agents in a present tense. He went and revisited the hotel clerk who still had her head buried in a book trying to study.

"What now?" She asked impatiently.

"What's your major?" Willmore tried to get on her good side.

"I'm working on a law degree." The clerk answered as she seemed to loosen up a little.

"Can you remember anything that might help us?" Willmore asked.

"No." She answered, "I'm sorry. They checked in and left that evening, I didn't see them after that." She began to write something down in the book.

"You keep a record of outgoing calls?" Willmore asked. He thought she was buttered up enough to be willing to help him. He guessed he shouldn't have dinged the desk bell… Twice.

"Yeah for billing purposes."

"Can I get a copy please?"

"Great." The clerk answered, "Give me a minute. I hope you know you're putting me behind."

"Sorry." It was a sarcastic apology, "I didn't mean to bother you at work."

"Funny."

Willmore checked over the phone records and found there was a few phone numbers on the list. So he decided to try one of them he punched the number _12025550149_ into his Nokia mobile and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hell… Who is this?" A voice answered the phone on the other end.

"Agent Willmore… FBI." Willmore said, "Who are you?"

"I asked you first." The man asked.

Willmore didn't like the sound of him, to him the voice sounded like someone that was sleazy and someone not to be trusted and had the nerve to act like this with an FBI agent, "Look…" Willmore was getting impatient, "I work for the FBI."

"Ah, sure ok." The sleazy man replied on the other end, "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Willmore searched through his memory. He was sure that he mentioned it… _CLICK!_ Wait, did that man just hung up on an FBI agent. Christ, and the hotel clerk thought _HE_ was rude.

* * *

After checking through the other phone numbers and dropping off Scully's laptop at the Seattle Field office it wasn't long until Willmore and Skinner were back on the road again travelling to a dockside warehouse. One of the numbers that was unaccounted for in the phone records was that of a Dockside Warehouse in Seattle.


	3. Chapter 3

_**X FILES VG**_

_DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE, SEATTLE_

Willmore and Skinner stepped out of the car and began walking to the front door of the warehouse. But Willmore stopped before they reached to the door and made direct eye contact with Skinner. His eyes showed more than just hint of annoyance with the Assistant Director, "It would be helpful to have some background on the case that your agents were pursuing." Willmore said.

"Wouldn't it?" Skinner replied, "When I have some, I'll share it with you."

Again Willmore had the feeling that Skinner was hiding something from him. He went to unlock the door with his lock pick, "Can we pretend you're not doing that?" Skinner said. If he was such a stickler for protocol, then why didn't he have any idea about his agents? Unless he was definitely hiding something from him.

It didn't take him long to get the lock opened so they could step inside. The door creaked open as they stepped in to the large, somewhat empty warehouse. Just to his left as they entered there were a couple of crates. Skinner closed the door behind them.

"Why don't you check out the main floor?" Skinner asked, "I'm going to check in there." Skinner veered off into another section.

When Willmore went to investigate the crates, he was clearly annoyed when he found that they were nailed shut. He'd need a crowbar to pry these things open. There was a dry pool of blood on the floor that he'd almost put his foot in. Using a small spatula instrument, Willmore bent down and scraped up a sample and put it into the tube. This didn't look good, "I found blood." Willmore yelled out, "Someone got shot."

Skinner looked up from reading a file in the adjacent area, "Well his phone's DOA." Skinner commented in an irritated voice.

Willmore used the flashlight to search around the darkest of places… In a toolbox surrounded by darkness there, there was a crowbar. This was exactly what he had been hoping to find. There was nothing else in this dark corner so he went back to the main area.

He used the crowbar to pry open the wooden crates. Something was in there that somebody wanted to keep hidden from people. The crate was full of course black powder. Of course it would have to be sent to the crime labs to be analyzed. He placed a sample in a separate tube and continued looking around.

Not too far from the crates, he found a Morley cigarette butt lying on the ground. So he picked it up with some clippers and blew into the small plastic bag to open it up before placing the butt inside. Some sunlight was penetrating through the windows and bounced off something metallic in the wall. He used his pocket knife to pry the bullet out of the hole and dropped it in the bag. The Seattle crime lab was going to be busy, that's for sure.

"I'll have some DNA tests run on the blood." Willmore met up with Skinner.

"I'll take a sample up to DC crime lab and have it analyzed." Skinner replied.

"What do you think about that?" Willmore held up the tube half filled with black powder.

Skinner took a long hard look at it, "I don't know." Skinner answered, "But I suggest you minimize your contact with it. At least until you have it analyzed."

Great Willmore thought. He had picked up a whole handful of it, "What do you think of this?" He asked as he showed him the Morley cigarette butt.

"Popular brand." Skinner answered.

"Why would Mulder and Scully have called this location?" Willmore asked.

"I'm not sure. But it's the best lead we got." Skinner said.

"That blood is troubling." Willmore said. Any sign of blood was troubling when missing agents came into play.

"It doesn't look good does it?" Skinner showed a hint of concern, "Let's have it analyzed and see if it belonged to someone else."

"The bullet passed through." Willmore said optimistically referring to the bullet he had found in the wall, "The victim may have only been injured."

"That's assuming they were only shot once." Skinner remarked, he didn't share any of Willmore's optimism, "But I appreciate your optimism Agent Willmore."

"If they were killed." Willmore hypothesized, "Where are the bodies?"

"I doubt if the killers would leave the bodies of two federal agents lying around for us to find." Skinner answered solemnly, "But if they're dead, we'd probably never find them… Let's hope that isn't the case. If we delay any longer, we'd be lucky if we find anything."

* * *

Willmore continued searching around the warehouse until he came out of another door and found himself out at the dock side. He saw somebody cleaning their small fishing boat so he decided to go and question him.

"Agent Willmore… FBI." Willmore showed his ID to the Chinese man, "I'd like to ask you a few questions… What is your name?"

"James Wong." James answered.

"What can you tell me about that warehouse?" Willmore asked as he looked up at that direction.

"Not much." James answered as he looked, "It's a warehouse. I don't know, I just dock here. They use to haul a lot of cargo in and out of there. Armed guards sometimes. Lately it's been pretty quiet." For someone who didn't know a lot about this warehouse, he was full of information, "Which is surprising, considering with what's going on around here."

"What exactly is that?" Willmore injected himself into the one man conversation.

"Fish been drying up."

"Have you noticed any unusual activity?" He asked.

"Not lately." James answered, "Just that the warehouse has been a lot quieter than usual."

"You been here this last week?" Willmore asked.

"Pretty much."

"And you haven't seen or heard anything unusual." There was just something about this man that made him suspicious.

"I try and get home by dusk. Try and see my family." James replied.

"Tell me about your family." Willmore was going to try and trip him up with something.

"Why?" He asked.

"Just curious. I just want to know about your family that's all." Willmore answered.

"Ok… A wife and a little girl."

"How old is your daughter?" Willmore enquired.

"Seven."

"Young for a man your age." Willmore assumed that the man looked about fifty.

"I eat a lot of fish." James smiled.

"Is your wife younger than you?" Willmore asked.

"Young enough to have a seven year old." James answered.

"How long have you been in this country?" Willmore asked.

"My accent give me away huh?" James answered, "Ten, eleven years maybe."

"Where you from Mister Wong?"

"China. I left Cantong in Nineteen eighty five."

"Any reason why we'd find blood in that warehouse?" Willmore decided it's time to get back to the real line of questioning before getting too sidetracked.

"No." James looked at the warehouse and thought for a moment, "Industrial accident maybe. I don't know."

"Does this look familiar to you?" Willmore showed him the tube of black powder.

"No… What is it?"

"Why don't you let me ask the questions?" Willmore didn't want to appear stupid in front of him, "Can I get a cigarette from you?" It was a ploy to see if James smoked the Morley brand of cigarette, thus, placing him inside the warehouse.

"Sorry I don't smoke." James answered, "Gives you cancer. Don't you watch the news?"

"What's happened to the fishing?" Willmore wondered what could possibly make the fish stocks depleted.

"I don't know. But it's getting bad. Some folks say it's from overfishing."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Long enough for a lot of guys to move on." James answered, "Can't make ends meet. I'm thinking about doing that myself."

* * *

Willmore met up with Skinner near their car out front of the warehouse, "That sedan's been following us since we left the field office." Skinner said without turning around to look at the car.

"Who do you think it is?" Willmore asked as he caught a peek at the car half hidden behind a wall.

"Someone who's interested in what we're doing." Skinner answered.

"What should we do about that car?"

"I think that's your call Agent Willmore." Skinner replied.

"Do you think they know about Mulder and Scully?" Wilmore asked.

"It's possible, why don't you go and ask them?"

Willmore reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out his camera. As soon as he took a step closer to them, the car sped away. He was able to take a couple of pictures of the car and license plate before it had sped away.

* * *

Willmore programmed the route in his PDA for King County Crime Lab Seattle to drop off the evidence that needed to be analyzed after he dropped Skinner off at the Seattle field office.


	4. Chapter 4

_KING COUNTY CRIME LAB, SEATTLE_

Willmore went directly to his friend's office. John Amis was busy working on something but immediately stopped when he noticed Willmore standing at the door.

"Mister Willmore." John said, "Good to see you. Been awhile."

"Hey John." Willmore greeted him, "How you been?"

"Bored, I hope you have something real exciting for me." John said. John was one of the few people that Willmore got into idle chit chat before engaging in anything work related.

"I'll do my best." Willmore replied.

"So what have you got?"

Willmore heard the sound of a fax going before he got into it, "You working on anything good?" He asked after the fax had stopped.

"No." John answered shifting foot positions, "I count on you FBI guys to keep my life interesting." He spoke with a smile.

"How's your wife?" Willmore asked.

"Ex you mean?" John corrected and Willmore nodded, "She's good. She's taking the kids to her moms for Easter. Yours?"

"My wife?" Willmore asked.

"No… Your ex kids." John responded flatly, "Yeah your wife."

Willmore shook his head as he thought about changing the subject, "Good I guess. We haven't really spoken in awhile." He had to think of something to change the mood of this conversation, "Hey… Don't you owe me a dollar?"

"From what? That basketball game?" John asked, "No way, that crooked partner of yours cheated."

"Cook?" Willmore asked, "He never cheated a day in his life." He'd never heard anything so ridiculous in his life.

"Don't hold your breath over that buck." John said, "The boys of the Crime lab are officially protesting." Willmore couldn't believer this performance all because of one lousy buck. He handed John the blood sample, "What is this? Blood?" John looked at it.

"Very good." Willmore said in a droll voice.

"You got a target to match it to?" John asked but received no response, "I can tell you the blood type but without a target for a DNA test there's not much I can do. What's the case?"

"A couple of missing FBI agents." Willmore said, "We think that the blood may belong to one of them."

"That's too bad." John replied, "I suggest that you have the DC crime labs analyze it, they could probably match it up with their Agent Database pretty quickly."

Willmore didn't tell him that Skinner was already going to do that.

"What have we here?" John held the tube of black powder to the light and looked at it closely, "Oh." His smile faded, "You're going to have do better than this. I can tell you right now what this is… It's industrial grade lead."

"Lead?" Willmore asked.

"Yeah."

"Why lead?" Willmore couldn't believe that, that was that it was.

"I don't know." John answered, "It's used for anything. From Wayne's Scuba Diving to lining X-ray vests. Pretty common stuff."

"Is there any reason why anyone would treat this stuff like contraband?" Willmore didn't think so. If it was so common, why go to all that trouble.

"No." John put on his best Sean Connery impression, "It's neither illegal nor sexy." John looked away for a moment. It was pretty funny, but the case he was working on was too serious, "There's no reason why people should want or need to smuggle it anywhere."

Willmore handed him the Morley cigarette butt, "No thanks. I'm trying to quit." John was smiling.

"That's very funny." Willmore had expected some sort of crack like this.

John smiled heavily, "Thank you." He accepted the praise, "One Morley cigarette butt. I'll give it the once over. Finally!" John squealed with delight as Willmore handed him the bullet, "Something that looks like evidence. I thought that you boys had gone dumpster diving or something." He looked closely at it, "Looks like a thirty-eight. Not in very good shape. Standard stuff I guess."

"Yeah, I dug it out of a hunk of wood." Willmore said. He knew that even though John Amis sounded like a regular nutcase he was damn good at what he did.

"You got it." John replied.

* * *

Willmore headed back to the Seattle Field office this was where he met back up with AD Skinner who was taking notes from the reports at the table.

"Why were we being followed?" He asked Skinner interrupting his work.

"I don't know." Skinner answered, "But whoever's involved in this case isn't afraid of the FBI." He thought for a moment, "There could be an underworld connection." Well it was possible.

"You think the blood belongs to one of your Agents?" Willmore asked. He had already come to that conclusion.

"I can't rule it out." Skinner's face was etched with concern. This was the first time that he had seen Skinner's face change from the hard exterior. Perhaps he really did care, "But I'll wait for the test results before I go jumping to any conclusion… I suggest you do the same Agent Willmore."

"Is there any connection with the declining fish stocks?" Willmore asked.

"I don't see any obvious connection." Skinner answered, "Poor fishing isn't a federal offense." Was Skinner trying to make a joke? Willmore didn't think that the AD knew how to make a joke.

"Do you think Mister Wong was involved?" Willmore asked.

"I don't know." Skinner answered, "Did you get the sense that he knew more than he was telling?" Willmore definitely got that sense and he also got the sense that for being an AD, Skinner was not very helpful.

"He was definitely hiding something." Willmore said, "What do you think that powdered lead is being used for?"

"I don't know, that has me stumped." Skinner said, "It could be a bi product of weapons manufacturing, I suggest you conduct a little research."

SAIC Shanks walked into the room, "AD Skinner. You have a call on line one."

"This is Skinner." Skinner picked up the phone. He wasn't happy with the person on the other hand, he was about to object but quickly silenced himself, "I understand." He said in a defeated tone.

"I have to go back to Washington immediately." Skinner said after he hung up the phone, "I'll take some of the blood back to DC for analysis. I want you to be in surveillance of that warehouse tonight." He turned to leave but stopped and looked deeply at Agent Willmore, "These two agents are very important to me." Skinner added before leaving.

* * *

Willmore went to sit down at his desk. As soon as he sat down, Cook stepped into his office, "Hey pal… How's it going out there?" He asked Willmore, "I'm sure you're sucking up to Skinner appropriately." Cook smirked.

Cook's smirked told Willmore not to take this banter too seriously, "Well I learnt how to suck up from you remember?" Willmore shot back with half a smile.

"Oh yeah… right." He replied flatly, "What's Skinner like?" Cook asked.

There was so much Willmore wanted to say to that comment, "He and Shanks… Should have babies." He said in his best semiserious tone.

"Mm." Cook smiled, "I'm sure he's talked about his missing people. But hey if you need anything you just ask." Willmore's eyes glanced over at the laptop sitting on the desk in a corner, "What's with the laptop?" Cook asked.

"It's Scully's. It's password protected." Willmore answered. He had no idea how to even begin to access the information stored inside.

"Do you want me to call Computer Crimes Division and see what they can do?" Cook offered to be errand boy. This was something he hadn't offered to do before.

"Sure." Willmore was glad to have some help.

"No problem. You got it." Cook said as he picked up the laptop leaving Willmore alone in his office once again.

* * *

_DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE, NIGHT TIME_

Willmore watched a black car approach the warehouse. This was what he had been expecting and wondered why on Earth could they be coming back to this area for. Two men exited the car and entered the warehouse. He thought it was best to go the long way around to enter through the back door. As quietly as possible, Willmore picked open the padlock to the back entrance and walked through. The only way he could find his way around was to feel his way. He stopped as he heard a noise by the couple of men. He used his binoculars to get a closer look.

The men were prying open a section of the floor and lifting something that looked like the crates he had gotten the powdered lead out of. They lifted several crates before closing the area of the floor. They had put the small crates into a large metallic box and left the warehouse.

Willmore had a look in the whole after he was sure the two men had left and couldn't hear him. But there was nothing left. Whatever was stored there was all gone now. Was it more lead?

Willmore wasn't sure what time he had gotten home that night. But decided to get changed and set his alarm and get whatever sleep time had allowed him.


	5. Chapter 5

_FBI FIELD OFFICE, SEATTLE_

Willmore was somewhat tired when he entered the field office. It felt like he didn't have much sleep at all. The sight in building made this great morning even worse. His friend and partner Cook was lying unconscious on the floor. He ran up to him and tried to wake him by tapping him on the side of the face.

"Hey." Cook slowly got off his back, "Did you get the number of that bus?" He sat down with his back up against the door to his office.

"You ok?" Willmore asked with concern.

Cook grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and applied pressure to the back of his head, "Yeah I'll live… Unfortunately." He answered, "Until Shanks gets a hold of me. We better see if anything's missing."

Willmore made sure that Cook stayed seated as he looked in the evidence locker. Usually, if anybody was after anything in the FBI it was because they were after evidence. There was only one thing that wasn't there.

"Scully's laptop is missing." Willmore said.

The sound of a phone ringing pierced the hall, "That's your phone." Cook called back.

Willmore walked to his office and picked up his phone.

"_Is this Agent Willmore?"_ A youngish voice asked on the other end of the phone.

"Yes." Willmore answered.

"_Agent Willmore… This is Agent Pendrell from the Sci-Crime Lab in DC."_ Agent Pendrell said, "_I completed the contemporary analysis of the blood sample from your office. I'm afraid I've got some bad news."_ Agent Pendrell sighed into the phone. It had to be bad, _"It looks like the blood belongs to Agent Scully."_

"Oh Jesus." Willmore said, "Are you certain?"

It seemed that the voice on the other end was a little unsteady, _"Fairly. A more detailed analysis will confirm it. But I'm pretty certain that's Scully's blood."_ Pendrell took awhile to continue, _"At the very least we know she's been injured. Um was there much blood at the scene?"_

"Yeah a fair amount." Willmore informed Pendrell. He didn't mean to sound as cold as it did.

"_Let's just hope it isn't as bad as it looks."_ Pendrell said.

"Yeah… Ok." Willmore replied, "Thanks for the call."

"_Sure. Thanks for the call. If anything changes I'll let you know."_

"Sure, no problem." Willmore was about to hang up.

"_Agent Willmore?"_

"Yeah?" Willmore answered.

"_Keep me informed ok."_ Pendrell requested.

"Ok." Willmore replied before hanging up.

It seemed that Agent Mulder and Scully were very popular in the DC office. Christ, he just had to find them and they just had to be alright. Mark Cook walked into his office with a serious look in his eyes.

"More good news." Cook told him, "That fisherman you interviewed yesterday had just been shot to death."

"So? What happened to you?" Willmore asked.

"I came in early to catch up on _YOUR _work." Cook answered, "Then somebody jumped me."

"Why did they only take Scully's laptop?" Willmore asked. That was the only solid bit of evidence they had.

"You got me." Cook answered, "Shanks is going to be furious."

"Not to mention Skinner." Willmore added and he knew that all of this was going to fall on his shoulders. It will be his head that'd be on the chopping block.

"Now there's something to look forward to." Cook said. He didn't really need to say it, "First they disappear. Then we lose his prized agents confidential records." Willmore looked at him. So far the Seattle Field Office was looking like it was inhabited by chimps, "I don't know what you're involved him, but someone's got big brass ones in order to steal equipment from an FBI field office."

Cook had a point, "Did you see who hit you?" Willmore asked.

Cook checked the back of his head, "Nope." He answered, "Whoever did it was really quiet."

"How did you know about Wong?" Willmore asked.

"What?" Cook asked.

"How did you know I went to see Wong yesterday?" Willmore asked.

"You told me." Cook answered, "Hey I was the one who was hit in the head remember?"

"I didn't tell you about Wong." Willmore was totally sure about that.

"Oh I guess Skinner must have mentioned it." Cook replied.

* * *

_DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE_

Willmore flashed his badge to the officer guarding the crime scene entrance. He allowed him to pass after seeing the ID. There was someone working on the body as Willmore walked down to the jetty.

"Congratulations old timer." The coroner said, "I don't know what you were doing. You just warranted the involvement of the federal government." It always gave Willmore the willies when these coroners spoke to dead bodies, "Lucky you."

"What have you got?" Willmore asked the coroner, sidestepping the photographer.

"Well Agent Willmore." The coroner said, "Barring any unexpected revelation. Looks like somebody shot this man in the back of the head."

Willmore didn't recall giving his name, "Have we met?" He asked.

"Yeah we both worked on that kidnapping case last year remember?" The Coroner answered.

"Sorry." Willmore replied. It was hard to misplace the Coroner's face. His balding messed up head with glasses but he just couldn't really remember him.

"No problem." The coroner replied, "It was a big team."

"So what's the time of death?" Willmore asked him.

"Preliminary, I'd say he's been dead for a bout six hours." The Coroner answered, "That'd make the time of death early in the AM."

"What caliber weapon was used?"

"A forty five or a three fifty seven maybe." The Coroner answered, "Hit him in the mastoid bone. That's the big chunk of spongy bone just behind the ear." He showed Willmore by pointing to his own mastoid bone, "It shatters easily so there's minimal amount of damage. A lot of bone fragments get driven up into the brain. That's where Oswald hit JFK."

"You subscribe to the lone gunmen theory." Willmore answered. To be honest, most of this techno-babble went over his head.

"No… I think aliens killed JFK." Willmore couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"Any sign of a struggle?" Willmore decided not to pursue the Coroner's words.

"No. He was either totally surprised or he knew his killer." The Coroner answered.

"Any idea on what happened?" Willmore asked the photographer who was apparently finished with picture taking.

"No." He answered.

"Any thought on a motive?" Willmore asked.

"Robbery would be my guess." The man said, "Ask Astadourian. It's her case."

"Can I get copies of those?" Willmore pointed to the camera.

"Sure." The photographer said, "If you give me your name."

"Craig Willmore FBI." Willmore answered.

Willmore leaned down and had a look at the body as well as the contents that were on a handkerchief. There only seemed to be loose change and an array of bits and pieces. He stood up and looked around. There was a woman in a long coat scribbling some notes into her notebook.

"Special Agent Craig Willmore." Willmore introduced himself the usual FBI way.

"FBI?" Mary asked, "What's the FBI's interest in this case?"

"We're investigating the disappearance of two agents." Willmore answered, "The investigation led me to this warehouse. We found evidence of foul play including the blood of one of our agents." Usually he wouldn't have shared this much information, but there was something infatuating about Mary Astadourian's flowing blonde hair and the fact that if he shared she might return the favor, "I spotted Wong and asked him about the warehouse, he lied to me and now he's dead." Willmore continued, "I don't know what the connection is… But I'm certain there is one."

"I'll buy that." Mary commented, "Interesting… This case just went from routine to fun. Thanks."

"Anytime." Willmore replied. He liked her. She was good looking and didn't give him the hard time concerning territory, "So what have you got?"

"It was the harbormaster who found the body." Mary said, "He was shot in the back of the head. Large caliber, no witnesses and no sign of a struggle."

"That's it?" Willmore asked. At least she to was willing to share, "So, where's the harbormaster?"

"Gone for coffee." Mary answered.

"Have you questioned him?" Willmore asked.

"Nope. Next on my list after search boat." Mary said.

"Any thoughts on motive?"

"Robbery most likely." A bit of a typical rural town cop thought, they think everything is robbery motivated.

"What was stolen?" Willmore didn't voice his thoughts.

"Haven't quite gotten there yet." Mary replied, "I was about to go onto the boat."

"Robbery seems unlikely to me." Willmore commented, "Seemed to me that the guy didn't have much."

"Probably true." Mary said as she pushed her thoughts, "You'll be amazed at what people would kill for. Could have had a cigar box full of cash. Unless he was killed for squealing to the feds." She added.

Maybe Mary was right. For a moment, Willmore's heart stopped beating because of guilt, "I wish I thought that was funny." He said.

"Wong didn't exactly run with the most desirable crowd." She stated. Well that was obvious.

"Any trouble in this area?" He asked.

"No." Mary looked around, "It's all quiet on the water front."

"That's too bad."

"Wouldn't it be great to attribute it to gang activity and just be done with it?" Mary said, "Alright it's about time to board the ship." She said with an eager smile.

Willmore and Mary climbed aboard Wong's boat and carefully looked around. Mary opened up the storage compartment of the boat to see what was inside. But there was nothing in there.

"Tell me this. Where did he put his fish?" Mary asked.

"What?" Willmore asked. He knew absolutely nothing about fishing.

"His catch." Mary said, "There's no freezers. There's not even ice anywhere. So where'd he store his fish. There's not even an ice chest around. So where'd the fish go?" Willmore looked around, Mary did have a point, "By the looks of it there's some serious gas tanks down there."

Willmore took it all in and thought about things for awhile. This just wasn't adding up, "So what's your theory on the hold?" He asked for Mary's input.

"My guess is…" Mary said, "That Wong wasn't quite who he seemed. I think this boat was used for something other than fishing. Which certainly puts a spin on his murder." Her cheerful exterior definitely hid a calculating mind.

"Did you know that fish stocks had been declining in this area recently?" Willmore was sure there was some sort of connection. There had to be.

"No… Where did you pick that up from?" Mary asked. This was the first she had heard about that.

"Wong told me."

"Well there's a reliable source." Mary could be quite funny by the sound of it.

Willmore searched the wheelhouse. There was a large jacket with the word TARAKAN written on it. That wasn't the name of the small fishing boat that they were on. By the jacket in a small cupboard was a small bottle of pills that were unmarked. They had to be acquired illegally since there was a relatively large amount. He met back up with Mary Astadourian who was still waiting on the main part of the boat.

"What's the TARAKAN?" Willmore asked after being satisfied that there was no other clues on board.

"What?" She asked back.

"TARAKAN." Willmore said, "What's the TARAKAN?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"I found this slicker with the label of TARAKAN."

"That's the name of this boat." Mary answered but then quickly corrected herself, "No, no. This boat's called the Aggressor."

"It just adds another mystery to your list doesn't it?" Willmore said flatly.

"Did you know that Mr Wong was taking stolen painkillers?" Willmore asked. Of course there was no way that she would have known that.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked. Their game almost felt like one of one-upmanship. Trying to see their knowledge outdo the other.

"Found a cache of pills." Willmore answered, "Above normal quantities to."

"How interesting." Mary replied, "That sure adds a wrinkle to things doesn't it?"

She wasn't wrong, "So do you still think the motive for his murder was robbery?" Willmore asked.

"Let's just see what the autopsy reveals alright?" She suggested.

"I'm finished." The coroner called to the boat, "I'm going to take Wong here for his free ride."

"Ask her to give me a call when she's finished." Mary shouted back.

"Ok. It's a pretty easy morning, shouldn't take too long." The coroner said.

As the coroner pulled the stretcher away, Wong's hand somehow came loose and fell out from beneath the sheet. This occurrence was almost as strange as this whole case.


	6. Chapter 6

"The harbormaster." Mary nodded in the direction of a man approaching with a cup of coffee in each hand. The harbormaster handed Mary one of the cups and she stood there drinking as Willmore began questioning him. Basically you know when you've hit a dead end with any investigation when the line of questioning begins to sound constant. Willmore was glad to get both feet on the

"How long have you known Wong?" Willmore asked the harbormaster.

"Oh a few years." The harbormaster answered the question, "Started docking here in 'ninety four I think. Yeah early ninety four."

"Did you notice anything unusual happening here last night?" Willmore questioned.

"No, not at all." The harbormaster answered, "The place has been very quiet."

Willmore couldn't believe his ears… There's been a shooting and late night meetings. How can he say that it's been quiet? "Did Mr Wong have any enemies?" Willmore asked since the harbormaster had already stated that he had known Wong for a few years.

"I don't think so." The Harbormaster answered, "I'd have to say no. But these days, I don't know anything anymore."

"Do you know if Mr Wong was having any financial difficulties?" Willmore asked.

"No, I don't. He always paid his berth fees on time." The harbormaster answered, "But the fishing's been hard on everyone around here lately."

"What's the TARAKAN?" Willmore asked about the slicker he found in the cabin.

"An ocean going tug." He answered, "Burnt at sea two months ago." At last it was revealed that the Harbormaster knew something.

"Really?" Willmore asked.

"Why would Wong have a slicker of that?" Mary finally contributed.

"Well I don't know." He answered, "I don't think he knew those guys. They were Russian. Maybe he picked it up at the scrap yard."

"I think I heard about that." Mary said, "The crew all died right?"

"Yeah, yeah." The harbormaster replied, "The boat's down at the import dock if you want to take a look."

"It's released to a company called Majestic-shipping out over the Far Eat."

"Can you give me a phone number?" Willmore asked.

"Well depends on which number you want." The Harbormaster answered, "They got offices in Hong Kong and all over the place."

"Just their main number." Willmore replied.

"No." He said while laughing, "This company doesn't work like that. But that's ok, I'll get all the information you need." He continued.

"Just fax it to me." Willmore said, "How do these boats normally store their catch?"

"They have what they call a live well. Some have a refrigerated storage container."

"Any idea why Mr Wong's boat has neither?"

"No… No." The harbormaster said, "I don't imagine he had the money to upgrade. That would have to be done in the dry dock anyway. That's pretty strange… I don't know why."

"How long have the fish stocks been declining around here?" Willmore asked. Warehouse had been involved in extracurricular activity, now a death and this declining fish stock. Was there really a connection? Or was he just clutching at the proverbial straw.

"Oh awhile now. Overfishing is probably the main cause." The harbormaster said as Mary watched on, "Been for a couple of months now. Most of they small guys are out of business. Wong's the only one holding on… Or at least he was."

"Why don't we take a look at the TARAKAN?" Mary said.

"Yeah sure. It's not far from here."

Willmore watched them climb the ramp. Then he saw something odd, the harbormaster gave a slight touch to in between her shoulder blades it was almost as if he was supporting her. The way them two acted, his impression was that they seemed like father and daughter. But that couldn't be it. She would have said something Wouldn't she?

* * *

_**CAMDEN IMPOUND LOT, SEATTLE**_

It was now raining and Mary was the only one who had an umbrella. Willmore attempted to nonchalantly duck underneath it to keep himself as dry as possible.

"Anyway, the Coast Guard saw a fire on the horizon and rushed out there. By the time they arrived it was too late. The crew burned to death." The harbormaster relayed the story.

"How many were on board?" Mary asked.

"A total of nine." He answered, "Though only four bodies were recovered and the rest were presumed lost at sea."

"What was the cause of the fire?" Mary enquired.

Willmore was surveying the damage on the outside, "They have no idea." The harbormaster answered.

"The fire damage only seem to be contained on the outside of the hull." Willmore commented. He looked harder, "The cabin and the interior doesn't seem to be damaged at all."

"What's your point?" Mary asked and Willmore looked at her.

"How can a fire kill the crew when it's only in the hull?" Willmore answered, "For that matter, why'd the fire only burn the hull in the first place."

"Got me… You're the detectives. Do you mind if I go, I got a lot of forms to fill out? You know when there's a dead body. Wow paperwork."

"Sure you can go." Mary said, "I'd call you if I need anything ok?"

"Ok. Well nice meeting you. I'll fax you those phone numbers." He said before leaving Willmore and Mary to investigate the TARAKAN alone. They climbed aboard and decided to search the TARAKAN vessel separately so they could cover more ground quickly. Willmore thought that this ship looked spooky.

"Well, looks like just you and me." Mary said before they parted.

Willmore walked down one of the corridors until he came across a wooden chest. He opened it and pulled out a large yellow sphere. Carefully he removed a tube from the top and examined it. The tube was empty but he still placed it back with a high degree of caution. There was nothing else down there and he wondered how Mary was doing in her search.

On the way to the cabin a couple of human shaped shadows were imprinted onto a wall. This seemed to be the stuff that nightmares were made of. He felt his stomach somersault. Even though he had no idea what these were they had an eerie sense about them.

"The place looks like it's already been dusted for prints." Willmore commented once he was up in the cabin.

"Oh yeah so it has." Mary looked around, "Must have been from the first investigation into the fire. Hey this is strange." She looked closely at a spot, "Looks like there's a fresh set of prints over a previously dusted area. Someone's put their hands on it after it's been dusted. Pretty shotty police work or someone's been here recently."

"Well we better have them lifted." Willmore said so he called up John Amis from the Seattle crime lab, "John it's Craig. I need a set of prints lifted."

"_Oh field work my favorite."_ John answered, _"Where?"_

"Down at the Camden impound lot. Boat's called the TARAKAN." Willmore said, "These are prints that were on a previously dusted set."

"_I love a challenge. Mark the spot for me."_

Willmore hung up the phone, "Come with me." Willmore said to Mary, "I want to show you something." He led Mary to the spot where he saw the shadows on the wall, "See these outlines along the wall?"

"Yeah, kind of frightening isn't it?" Mary felt uncomfortable she could feel her breathing stop momentarily, "What causes it?" She asked.

"I have no idea." Willmore said, not taking his eyes off the shadows.

"Reminds me of pictures I've seen of Hiroshima."

"How's that?" Willmore looked at her.

"Where the blast of the bomb left behind outlines of people. I don't know why I remember it. I was only a kid when I saw the pictures. Jesus, it scared the beegeesies out of me." Mary said.

Willmore couldn't blame her for that, he followed her back to the cabin.

"Have a look at this." Willmore placed the large sphere on the table.

"What is it?" Mary asked.

"I have no idea." Willmore loved finding new things.

"Don't mess with it." Mary panicked, "It looks like an explosive device."

"Well it could be." Willmore replied, "It's certainly heavy enough."

"Maybe we should call in a hazmat team!" She exclaimed.

"Let's not overreact ok?" Willmore couldn't help but smile as he began to pull out the tube that he had removed earlier.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She screamed.

"You really need to cut down to one cup a day." He referred to how much coffee he'd seen her drink since meeting her.

"What is it?" Mary sounded embarrassed.

"I don't know." Willmore said standing back, "But I do know one very happy lab technician." Willmore handed her a book that was lying around, "This looks interesting."

Mary opened up and looked inside, "It's in Russian I think, we got a task force working on smuggling operations from the Middle East. They can get it translated."

"That's fine." Willmore said, "I'm assuming you'll share."

Mary was taken aback by his co-operation, "Of course I'd share."

"Ok."

"Well that was easy." Mary commented, "I was certain you'd give me grief about that."

"Seattle PD has the resources. Let's make use of it." Willmore said.

"That's a commendable attitude." Mary said.

"Well you know what they say about catching flies." Willmore said.

Then an officer approached Mary, "Hey detective. They just called from the coroner's office, they just completed the autopsy on Wong. She's found something she wants you to see." The officer said.

"Looks like we're headed for the coroners." Mary commented solemnly, "I can hardly wait."


	7. Chapter 7

_**King County Medical Examiner's Office Seattle**_

Willmore and Mary entered the Coroners and Mary introduced him to the female examiner.

"This is Agent Willmore with the FBI." Mary already knew the coroner, "He questioned Wong yesterday."

The Coroner looked like she was ready to hop into the shower with that cap on and looked quite ridiculous with those oversized goggles on, "I hope you found out everything you needed to know." She said in a deadpan tone.

"What have you got?" Willmore asked her. He didn't see the need to get into any pleasantries with her.

"This is undoubtedly one of the strangest autopsies I've ever performed." She said looking at the body, "This guy died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, large caliber weapon, and point blank range. He was also a drug user. Looks like he was high at the time of his death."

It was some sort of morbid fascination that Willmore couldn't take his eyes off the body of Wong, "That would account for the lack of struggle." Mary commented coldly. Keeping a herself detached from the victim in a professional way. It was something that Willmore was beginning to like about her.

"But if the slug or drugs didn't kill this man. This man would have been dead in a matter of weeks anyway." The coroner said.

"Oh Jesus." Willmore rolled his eyes, "Why?"

"He was completely riddled with massive tumors." Was the quick answer, "I've never seen anything like it."

"What would cause something like that?" Mary asked.

"No idea." The coroner answered, "I've never seen a human being so eaten alive with cancer."

"God." Mary sighed in a slightly overdramatic way, "I hate coming here."

"You know… So do I." The coroner turned back to the body and so did Willmore. It looked like the head of Wong just moved and Willmore's heart skipped a beat. What had caused that? The coroner seem undeterred by the movement because she didn't comment on it, she had to have seen it.

"What kind of cancer was it?" Willmore asked, occasionally looking out of the corner of his eye to see if he could detect anymore twitching of Wong's body.

"Well here's the weirdest thing. You see these." She pointed to a three trays holding masses of something, "These are three different kinds of cancer. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a few more." The coroner began washing her hands with a towel, "It was as if his endocrine and immune system suddenly went haywire."

"Is there a name for this?" Mary asked.

"Bizarre." The coroner answered.

"No." Mary almost laughed, "I mean is there a syndrome or something that explains it?"

"No, not that I've heard of." She answered.

"How do you know he was high?" Willmore asked. He couldn't for the life of himself figure out how that was possible to know.

"That's mainly a hunch." She said, "And the little things. The state of cranial vascular relaxation. Total dilation of the pupils, things like that. I've seen it before but the blood work will confirm it."

"What could have caused cancer like this?" Willmore questioned.

"I have no idea." She replied, "It's not exactly my field first of all. But I can't imagine what would trigger something like this. Some form of carsogenic exposure I guess. Radioactive materials, some classes of mutagenic chemicals as far as I know."

Most of it went over Willmore's head. He thought that he should carry around a dictionary when he came to these types of places, "How long had he been ill?" Willmore asked deciding to not press about what the hell carsogenic and mutagenic meant.

"Tumors are highly unpredictable." The coroner answered, "The growth of this size would take a fair amount of time but he would have been in immense pain." She was taking a closer look at something.

"Which might explain the illicit drug use?" Mary chimed in.

"Even with the drugs a condition like this would be almost impossible to ignore. The amount of drugs he'd had to take to ease the pain would make him a near zombie. Strange." She added. Yeah, the whole thing was just a little more than strange.

"Have you seen anything else like this recently?" Willmore enquired.

"No… Thank God."

"How long had he been taking drugs?" Willmore asked not that he thought that that would be of any help at all.

"It's hard to say." The Coroner answered, "Organ tissue analysis could provide some evidence but it's difficult. The tumors like this he would have been in immense pain, the drugs could be used to medicate it."

Willmore saw the hunk of metal in a round bowl, "Is that the slug?" Willmore asked.

"Yes it is."

"I'd like to have it analyzed."

"That'd be alright I suppose." The coroner replied.

"There was a case a couple of months ago." Willmore wanted to touch the subject of TARAKAN, "A fire at sea."

"The TARAKAN." The coroner finished the sentence, "Sure I remember it, you're the second FBI agent to ask me about that this week."

Willmore and Mary quickly exchanged a look. This looked promising, "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Actually to be specific, you're the third FBI agent there was a pair here the other day, a man and a woman. They had the bodies of the TARAKAN crew members exhumed. She insisted on performing a second autopsy." The coroner explained.

"What were their names?" Willmore wanted to make sure it was them.

"Sorry I have to look that up." She was about to leave the area, "I see a lot of names."

"It was Mulder and Scully wasn't it?" Willmore didn't want to waste anymore time.

"Yes." The coroner answered, "Diana Scully and Wolf Mulder."

"What did she find?" Mary asked.

"No idea, the bodies are still here if you want to see them."

"What were the results of the original autopsy?" Willmore asked.

"They died of severe burns."

Mary swallowed, "We want to see them." She said slowly.

"Alright." The coroner covered Wong's body with a sheet, "You're not squeamish I hope."

"God I hate coming here." Mary stated once again.

Willmore and Mary were lead into the room where they stored the bodies in the pull out draws. The room felt so claustrophobic, "Fair warning." The coroner said, "This is going to be pretty bad… These guys have been in earth for two months. Are you alright?" She asked Mary.

At least they were forewarned and could mentally, "Just peachy, thanks." Mary responded, "Can we get this over with please." Her speech had grown quicker. Willmore gave her a look to make sure she was ok.

"Sure." The coroner opened the doors and pulled out a slab. There was nothing on there. So she opened the other doors, "I don't know what the hell's going on here." She said. They were all empty. The bodies were gone, "I think someone's stolen the bodies from the TARAKAN. You two stay here, I'll let you know if I find anything. She said before leaving them alone.

Mary used her foot to push the slab back into it's place and closed the door and sighed, "What the hell have we stumbled onto here?" She asked.

"Well I have some theories." Willmore said.

"Ok… I'm listening."

"Well uh." Was all Willmore could get out before Mary interjected.

"Oh my god." It was as if Mary had an epiphany, "I think I know what's going on here." She said, "Oh Jesus. I hope I'm wrong."

Willmore was beginning to get impatient since she wasn't getting straight to the point, "What?" He prompted her.

"They're smuggling something. They're smugglers." Mary said, "Wong worked for the same people as the crew of the TARAKAN."

"That'd explain the slicker and the lack of fishing equipment." Willmore followed her line of thinking.

"So they worked for the same people." Mary said. Reestablishing her train of thought, "You questioned Wong, he was killed because they thought he was caught." Willmore averted his eyes, it wasn't something he wanted to be reminded of, "Your two missing agents have the crew of the TARAKAN exhumed… They and the corpses turn up missing?" Her tone turned even more serious, "We've stumbled upon a smuggling ring bringing in radioactive materials or possibly even chemical weapons into the US from the former Soviet Union." Willmore shifted uncomfortably, that sounded bad, really bad, "That explains the fire on the TARAKAN… Wong's cancer. Why he was killed and what happened and what happened to your two missing agents… They got too close. Someone's covering their tracks and not afraid to shoot FBI agents to do it. You and I have to work together. We have to stop this. If I'm right, thousands of people might die. I'm going to have to demand that we cooperate fully on this."

"Ok." Willmore was finally able to get a word in. All the pieces seemed to fit right into place with her theory. It sounded like she was right and it was the best option they had to go on right now.

"You just got yourself a new partner." Mary said.

* * *

_**King County Crime Lab, Seattle**_

Willmore went to John Amis to drop off the evidence that he had in his possession. He was surprised to see John sitting on the chair in his office totally engrossed in a comic book. So much so, that he hadn't heard him coming.

"Your tax dollars at work?" Willmore commented to get his attention.

"Hey do the words lunch hour mean anything to you?" John snapped at him.

"You're in a mood today." Willmore observed.

"What do you want?" His voice softened at least.

"Have you heard from Gloria?" Willmore thought that he might need some idle chit chat before he started laying evidence on him.

"Nope." He sighed, "She's still at her mums."

"Hey… When are you going to pay me that dollar?" Willmore asked.

"Did you know that I grew up in Cleveland?" John asked.

"No… Cleveland really?" Willmore couldn't see where this was going.

He laughed, "And as a child I always classed it as hell." John said, "Do you have any idea on how cold it is in Cleveland."

Now, Willmore got the idea where this was headed, "Cold, very cold. It's very cold in Cleveland today."

"But not cold enough." John added.

"You working on anything good?"

"Yes actually… An art theft. Very cool stuff. Mum's the word."

"Ah." Willmore pointed to the comic book, "So the comic book's research."

"Did you get those fingerprints lifted?" Willmore asked.

"I just fetched them Miss Daisy." John put on his best Morgan Freeman from Driving Miss Daisy voice, "I still need to process them."

"And they say sugar has no effect on children." Willmore said in a deadpan tone.

He handed John the large metal sphere, "Yowzer." He said as he handled it with extreme caution, "What is this? A bomb?" He asked.

"Umm I don't know. I don't think so." Willmore said, "But I do need you to tell me just what the hell it is."

"Your wish is my command." John replied. He couldn't just give him straight replies? Willmore gave him the bullet that was retrieved from Wong's body, "Uh another hunk of lead." John said, "I love bullets… Simple, tough, violent. Kind of like you there Willmore. Yet in the right hand they speak volumes." Willmore couldn't help but smile at that, "You want I should match this with the last one?"

"Astute as always." Willmore said.

"I shall make it so." John said.

* * *

It was getting late so he headed home. Before he going on the stakeout for the night he decided to turn on his computer and check for any emails. A large ding dong was emitted from his computer.

"You got mail." The female voice from the computer said to him.

The email was from John Amis concerning the evidence. He clicked on it to open it up. The email told him that another set of prints were lifted from the TARAKAN that was on top of the previously dusted area. But it didn't match any of John's records. Since it came with the attachment of the fingerprints he decided to try and match it on the FBI database first. It didn't take long for the prints to find a match. The result shocked him, the Mark Cook's profile flashed up on the screen.

_KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!_

Willmore shut down his computer and answered the door. Cook walked through the door without being invited, he was acting very agitated right away. He made his way to the blinds and looked out the window.

"What are you doing?" Willmore asked him.

"No man what the hell are you doing?" Cook snapped at him, "You're suppose to be keeping me informed about this case. Have I been informed? No… I've been kept completely in the dark. You know the policy… Always have a backup. What if something happened to you? Where would your investigation be then huh? Agents' lives are on the line here. You better think about that instead of how you can score points with AD Skinner."

It was never about that and Willmore could feel his anger rising until it boiled over, "Hey shut up!" He yelled, "Jesus… You act like you're the centre of the whole frickin universe. Why don't you ask me about this instead of screaming at me?" His voice quieted down a bit but was still spitting venom, "I'm sorry you had a bad day dear, but either you treat me civilly or get the hell out of my house."

"Oh man." Cook was diffused, "I don't what the hell's the matter with me." He said calmly, "I'm losing it. You're being followed by two guys in a Sedan." Willmore already knew this, "I don't know who they are or who they work for but they're obviously government. I think Mulder and Scully had stumbled onto some sort of corruption that goes all the way to the Bureau itself." Cook was so sure of it.

"So who are these guys working for?" Willmore asked.

"The bureau." Cook answered, "They've got the Joe Friday dress code down pat. Alright so fill me in."

"I don't know exactly." Willmore decided to tell him what he wanted to hear, "I think you're right. I think it's a smuggling ring bringing in materials from the middle east and Russia and I think they may have infiltrated the Bureau."

"You have to be incredibly careful. They could be coming after us next." Cook gazed at Willmore, "Just keep me in the loop, the more I know the better I can do my job."

"I've just been a little busy." Willmore said. Well that part was true.

"Sure." Cook's voice raised it's volume, "But we're not talking about your grocery list here. This case probably has already cost the lives of two agents. Listen just keep me in the loop."

"So why were your fingerprints down at the TARAKAN?" Willmore asked.

"What?" The question shocked Cook.

"The TARAKAN and ocean going tug burnt at sea."

"Yeah I know what it is… What are you saying?" Cook said.

"I want to know how your prints got on a ship that's been involved in ten deaths, two disappearances and probably a ship you should've never even heard of." Willmore continued.

"Listen." Cook said, "I was called in to investigate the fire two months ago when it happened. I didn't find anything. Took me a couple of hours, that's it."

"So why didn't I hear about it?" Willmore questioned further.

"I don't know… Maybe you were in the can." Cook answered, "Look I didn't mention it because it was way below radar. I filed my report with Shanks, end of story." He was beginning to falter under Willmore's constant gaze, "Ok… Maybe I left a set of prints, but that's all I did wrong." Something dawned on Cook, "Wait a minute… Maybe that's why I'm being followed. I assumed the crew were smugglers right? That's what my report said. They've seen my report that means the Bureau is involved. Listen, this all makes perfect sense. There's a massive smuggling ring paying government officials and FBI agents, not only to look away but to buy outright assistance including following agents who get too close to the truth." Cook thought for a moment, "Jesus there's no telling how high this goes. Alright, look… You can't take any chances. You keep me in the loop. I don't want you to talk to anyone else but me until we can figure out what the hell is going on here. I better get out of here before my car is spotted."

"I gotta get to the stakeout." Willmore said.

"At the warehouse?" Cook asked and Willmore just nodded, "Watch your ass." He said before leaving the apartment.

* * *

_**DOCKSIDE WAREHOUSE, SEATTLE**_

Willmore was waiting in a dark corner watching intently for any signs of activity. He saw somebody leave the truck and walk away. Willmore quickly approached the truck and stepped in through the driver's side door before closing it.

There was nothing on the seats so he opened the glove box and looked inside. There was some paper which had a number on it. There wasn't enough numbers on it to be a phone number. He tucked it to the inside of his jacket and looked around some more. There were the sound of someone walking near at the side of the truck. Willmore reacted quickly by jumping out the passenger side door and kneeling near a large bush which was enough to hide him for when the truck drove away.


	8. Chapter 8

_**(Willmore's Apartment)**_

Willmore was awoken by someone eagerly knocking on his door. He wasn't sure about what time it was because having his blinds drawn shut meant that it still looked like night time. The person knocked a few more times before Willmore could make it from his bedroom to the apartment door, "Hey, hey, hey." He said sleepily.

Mary walked in as he opened the door, "Do I have news?" She said triumphantly.

"Goodmorning." He said with his arm still resting against the door as she walked further into the living room.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked him.

"I worked last night." Willmore answered, "What's the matter with you?" There was no greeting.

"I didn't." She answered. Of course that was why she was alert and cheery.

"What time is it?" Willmore had no idea.

"Almost noon." Mary was acting like she was telling him off for sleeping in too late, "We have a burn victim, the injuries seem to match those sustained by the crew of the TARAKAN. I have the whole thing on tape." She held up the tape before bending down and put it into the VCR, "I'll just rewind it." Willmore couldn't help but glance at her ass that was pointed in his direction, "Hey it's not flashing midnight." Mary said, Willmore managed to avert his eyes just before she caught him having a sneak peek, "Impressive. I love a man who's not afraid of technology."

Mary stood back up and waited for the video to rewind, "How do you know about the TARAKAN injuries?" Willmore asked her.

"I got hold of the original autopsy report." Mary answered, "I have them if you want to see them."

"Who's the victim?" He asked her.

"A John Doe." Mary said, "A truck driver for Gordon's Hauling Yard. He was from China."

"Where'd you get the videotape." Willmore asked. Mary was turning out to be resourceful that's for sure.

"Surveillance camera at the gas station. It's not great video but it still shows the…" Mary took an awkward pause before looking up at Willmore, "Thing." Was all she said.

Willmore looked at her while she watched the rewinding tape, "What… thing?"

"You'll see." Mary didn't' want to try and explain it.

"What time did this occur?"

"Six seventeen am this morning." Mary answered.

Finally the video finished rewinding and Mary bent over to press play. Was she deliberately showing him her butt? He decided it was safer not to ask. The screen came alive with footage of the gas station showing a lonesome car waiting there.

"That could be Mulder's rental car." Willmore pointed to the screen, "Same make." A couple of seconds later a man exited the car and looked around, "That looks like Mulder." He said.

"Have you seen him?" Mary asked in a surprised tone.

"No… Just photos." A truck stopped suddenly and another man got out of the car, "That man was at the warehouse last night. Different truck, same company… Gordon's Hauling."

The footage showed the man run towards Mulder in a not-so-friendly way. When the man got close a bright light seem to come from Mulder and fill the whole screen just before the video went dead. Now Willmore's screen was back to it's snowy haze.

"So… What do you think?" Mary asked him.

"What was that?"

"I have no idea, but his injuries matched the crew and all the gas station's equipment stopped working at the same time." Mary answered, "So what do you think it is?"

Willmore knew that what he thought was in the realms of impossibility. There was no way it could be like what it looked like, "The light looked like it was coming out of the man's body."

He'd expected Mary to just laugh at him, "Yeah it did, didn't it?" She commented with a straight face, "So what the hell was that all about?" The sound of Willmore's fax machine broke their conversation, "Sounds like you have a fax." She pointed out.

"The body's at Truitt's now to examine the body." Mary said, "Oh and I got that document translated and get this… It was a payroll log and guess who was on it… Wong. He was paid over thirty thousand dollars in the last two months." That put a twist on things, Wong was living like a pauper not someone who'd just come into that kind of money, "I'm convinced that the murder was mob related. Probably because you questioned him. Wow I guess you really did get him killed." She added. Willmore didn't really need reminding of that, "I'll turn that case over to the task force." She said after Willmore refused to respond. Perhaps that would be a good idea.

"So what's the connection to Gordon's Hauling?" Willmore wondered out loud.

"You mean why was a Gordon Hauling's truck both here and at the warehouse?" Mary asked, "They're involved in smuggling." She insisted that this had definitely something to do with smuggling.

"Where's the truck?" Willmore asked. He wanted to get a good look at it.

"Completely empty." Mary answered, "I've got an evidence crew going over it right now."

"Where does the TARAKAN fit into all this?" His mind was still a little sluggish and couldn't quite put the pieces together.

"Obviously they were part of the smuggling." She emphasized the smuggling word, "Either they fried themselves mishandling plutonium or somebody had them killed."

"What did the man from China want with Mulder?" Willmore was open to any ideas at the moment. He couldn't think of any ideas about that, "Assuming that was Mulder."

"I don't know." Mary answered, "Whatever it was it didn't look friendly."

"Who was he?"

"Don't have an ID on him yet." Mary answered.

"How about Gordon's Hauling Yard?" Willmore suggested, "Can someone there ID him?"

"Nobody there answers the phone." Mary said, "And get this, there's no one on the premises. I sent a county sheriff over there and no luck." When she got on a tangent she talked like she was high on caffeine.

"We need to focus on Mulder and Scully." Willmore said loudly. This case was going too far off track for his liking, "Where are they? All this voodoo with these flashing lights and burnt victims is not the case we're here to solve."

"I don't agree. If we can understand what this is about we maybe able to find your missing agents." She did have a point, maybe it was all connected. Willmore handed her the fax. There was silence as she read through it, "Well, that settles it they were smuggling plutonium." She said solemnly, "God we have to stop this. They could kill a lot of people. Ok cowboy let's go, we're burning daylight." Her voice went back to it's cheery self.

"Where we going?" Willmore asked.

This only earned him an impatient tone and Mary spoke slowly, "To the coroner's office to get the reports on the burn victims."

"Can I take a shower first?" Willmore asked since he'd just woken up not too long ago.

"I don't know can you?" Mary said playfully.

Willmore thought two could play this game, "I may need some help." He said in a deadpan tone.

"Then you better call that partner of yours." Mary said, "I heard Cook scrubs a mean back."

Willmore laughed at that. She was good at playing the game that was for sure.

_**

* * *

**__**KING COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, SEATTLE**_

Willmore and Mary stood there having a good look at the burn victim for awhile, "God I hate coming here." Mary said eventually. The burned body was not in good shape that's for sure.

"From what I can tell." The coroner said, "This man wasn't burned in the ordinary sense. He has all the signs of suffering from Hiroshima-type radiation exposure." There's that Hiroshima connection.

"What makes you think it's radiation?" Willmore asked.

"Well first off I don't know much about it." The Coroner said, "He's burned from head to toe literally. Fire damage never does that. Secondly, when I took his clothes off him they were virtually undamaged. See this, this is the imprint of the logo from his shirt." Willmore looked at it closely and was shocked by it, "That's caused by thermic rays. Similar effects were observed at Hiroshima. Patterns burned into the skin of the wearer. Shadows of objects were permanently etched onto walls."

"Were there any similarities between this and the TARAKAN victims?" Willmore asked.

"The effects are almost identical." She answered, "We didn't figure it out with the TARAKAN because the thought hadn't occurred to us." She looked over at Mary then back at the body, "This is very unusual stuff you know?" She said. That seemed all this case was… Unusual, "Sometimes we can't see the extraordinary right in front of us just because we weren't expecting it."

"Any leads on the missing TARAKAN crew?" Willmore asked.

"No. Whoever did it was good." The Coroner said, "They got in, got the bodies and left without leaving a trace of any kind."

"Would mishandling radioactive materials cause burns like this?" Willmore said.

"Could do, but then again I don't think so." She answered, "But then again I don't know that much about it. Mishandling radioactive materials might account for Mr Wong's tumors. But a burn like this… It has to be a blast of some sort."

Was that what came out of Mulder's body. A blast? Was that even possible?

_**

* * *

**__**Gordon's Hauling Yard, Charno Washington**_

By the time Willmore and Mary arrived at the Yard it was well into the night time. He was shocked by the lack of security around the place since the gate was even left open which was totally unusual for this time of night.

"Well obviously they're not very security minded." Willmore observed.

"I know." Mary replied, "And with all this nice stuff around."

Willmore looked around and nodded in the direction of a large truck, "That's the same truck that was at the warehouse." He noted out loud, "This must be the right place."

They were able to walk straight through the gate. Willmore watched as Mary went straight to the window to peer inside the building. He soon followed her inside. The door wasn't even locked. Part of him thought that was odd, no lock, no alarm. Just an easy walk in. They used their flashlights so they could at least see where they were going since it was too risky to use the lights. Willmore walked slowly into what looked like an office but what was even more shocking was the fact that someone had already rummaged through it and there were papers all over the place. The place was such a mess that even a shovel was leaning up against the wall.

In the middle of the floor amongst a small mountain of papers was some sort of ledger. Willmore leant down and picked it up to examine it's writings. When he heard someone's footsteps approaching him he assumed that it was Mary coming in. He turned around to say something, but it wasn't Mary, it was a man who's pupils seemed to shift within the eyes. Willmore couldn't react before he was picked up and thrown across the room. He felt his head bounce off a filing cabinet. Suddenly he heard Mary grunt as she was thrown over the table. Then the door clicked shut.

"Are you alright?" Mary knelt down in front of Willmore.

"I found what we were looking for." Willmore said, "Look at this. It's a manifest, it details the uh, number of shipments from the dockside warehouse, rural route 1121 Washington." He sounded like he was on a caffeine kick.

"I guess I know where we're headed." Mary replied, "This hasn't been a wasted trip after all."

"Great… Let's get out of here." Willmore stood up as he ripped pages out of the ledger. It was better than carrying a whole book around.

"We're locked in." Mary was at the door. Great no locks to get in, but a lock to get out. Mary looked around and suddenly stopped at a filing cabinet, "My God!" She exclaimed, "There's a bomb in here. We have to get out of here now."

Willmore saw a vent by the wall. But where did he see that shovel before? He grabbed the shovel from the wall and used it as a baseball bat to knock out the grate. This allowed both of them to climb through. They sprinted away just before the building exploded into a fiery inferno.

"It's times like this I wished I still smoked." Mary said as she rubbed her shoulder and sat on the bonnet of the car.

"Are you alright?" Willmore asked.

"Oh yeah." Mary answered, "I find things like this quite racing."

"I guess you're going to want me to drive." Willmore said smiling. He couldn't figure out why the hell he was smiling since they'd almost got blown to smithereens.

"That's a nice gesture." Mary smiled back.

"I've never survived a bomb before." Willmore suddenly said.

"Oh well it happens to me all the time."

Willmore almost went to laugh but thought he'd lean in for a kiss instead. He quickly approached her lips with his. But at the last second she pulled away.

"Umm." She said, "You probably shouldn't do that. I mean I'd love for you to don't get me wrong. But maybe we should get this case wrapped before… We tamper with evidence." Willmore grinned… It wasn't technically a knockback.

So he thought he'd better take the advice and concentrate on the case, "Who was that guy?" Willmore asked, "He was incredibly strong."

"Yeah I kinda got that impression." Mary stayed on the car's bonnet and rubbed her arms, "You think he works out?"

"There was something weird about his eyes." Willmore asked, "Did you see that?"

"No… I was too busy getting knocked across the room to catch that little detail." Mary said.

"He seemed." Willmore said as he shook his head, "There was something wrong with him. Almost like he was being controlled by something." Willmore knew how ridiculous that last part sounded, "So who owns the hauling yard?"

"Duh." Mary answered, "The Russian mobsters."

"I guess we know why the gat was left open." Willmore observed.

"You mean it wasn't just small town cosiness?" Mary smiled.

"No." Willmore laughed, "The gate was left open so someone could go in there and set that bomb off."

"But was it meant for us or that guy?" Mary brought up an interesting question.

"Was the bomb meant for a trap or was it protecting something in the office?" Willmore queried.

"Like what?"

"Information in that log book." Willmore answered, "The rural route address for instance."

"Well anything in there would be hard to read now that's for sure." Mary said, "I think that the bomb was meant to trap and kill somebody." She was pretty confident about that, "Are you ready to go… I sure am." She sighed as she hopped off the car, "You're driving remember."

Willmore nodded and they both got into the car.


	9. Chapter 9

_**FBI Field Office, Seattle**_

Willmore walked through the door once again swearing that sleep time was getting less and less. He heard something that sounded like someone preparing for trouble so he followed the sound which came from just outside SAIC Shanks' office. Cook was getting ready for a raid by the look of it.

"Hey buddy." Cook said, "Good news.

"What's going on?" Willmore asked quietly.

"I'll tell you what's going on." Cook answered, "I cracked your case for you."

"What are you talking about?" Willmore asked as Cook handed him a dossier on some Russian guy.

"Ugayne Smolnikoff." Cook answered, "Head of a ring of Georgian Smugglers and I have a witness that places him at the dock at the night of Wong's murder." The sound of a magazine clicking in could be heard, "I ordered some surveillance on his little love nest and since this morning we've accumulated enough evidence to warrant a raid. We leave A.S.A.P. The SWAT's meeting us at the site. No need to thank me." He was making sure all the weapons were in right order.

"Do you have a warrant?" Willmore asked.

"What do I look like, Mark Ferman?" Cook laughed, "Yeah, I have a federal warrant from a federal judge."

"What about Astadourian?" Willmore said, "We should call and tell her what you're doing."

"Done." Cook said beaming, "Already left her a message. I'm the Martha Stewart of crime prevention. If she gets down here before we leave she's welcome to play to."

"This is my investigation." Willmore said distinctly and slowly.

"Oh contraire. This is our investigation." Cook was almost ready, "Hey I'm just trying to catch the bad guys. You do remember that thing we do, catching bad guys?"

"Who's the witness?" He wanted to make sure the witness was reliable.

"What?" Cook looked up.

"The one who ID'd Smolnikoff." Willmore showed him the photograph.

"Fred Coleman. Fifty Six. He was sleeping under a tuna net not fifty yards from the murder. He saw everything."

"I'd like to question him." After all it was his investigation.

"Yeah sure whatever you want." Cook said, "After the raid. Now let's go."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Willmore asked. Cook was on his back about being kept in the dark just a couple of days ago.

"I was going to tell you." Cook said quietly, "But the evidence just turned up this morning. And as I recall, you were pretty much out of pocket the other day."

"I'm not going to let you do this." Willmore said. Even though he had a point, this was just getting out of his hands.

"What man?" Cook asked, "What are you busting my chops for? That's not like you. I'm just trying to do my job. What's all this about? That guy is undoubtedly smuggling plutonium into the pacific north/west. My guess, he's the key to your missing FBI agents. So… Suit up. Let's go."

* * *

_**RAINIER COLD STORAGE, SEATTLE**_

Cook carried the M-16 around to the front of the warehouse and he and Willmore cautiously took each side of the front door. Willmore looked around nervously, "Where's the backup?" He asked his partner.

"I called Seattle PD… SWAT boys are on their way." He was itching to get in there.

"We should wait." Willmore responded.

"I say we get this over with." Cook retorted, "Surveillance reported Smolnikoff entered here alone."

A couple of shots kicking dust off the bricks near them begged to differ. Willmore temporarily shielded his eyes from the, "You were saying…" Willmore said to Cook in a really annoyed voice.

"After you." Cook said. At least they were suited up for this eventuality.

"Cover me." Willmore said.

"You got it." Cook faced the door and fired shots into the building to cause anyone to duck for cover.

Willmore stepped in after Cook stepped back to safety. It was difficult to see inside but he could make the outline of someone moving around in front of him so Willmore lifted his weapon and fired which knocked the man down. Another man went to shoot and he was just able to shoot him before he could take aim and do any damage. After he shot the third gunmen it looked safe to enter.

Someone was moving near the stairs and as soon as he saw Willmore went to draw his weapon after investigating the noise. When he was shot, he fell down the stairs. Slowly Willmore walked around the staircases till he reached the ones leading up. Movement behind a boarded doorway caught his eye and he shot the figure sending it flying backwards. He then went back around the staircase until he could hear someone talking.

He walked down the stairs, "Freeze… Federal Agent!" Willmore yelled, "Don't move." The man was speaking in what sounded like Russian into the telephone. He didn't hang up until Willmore was standing right in front of him with his gun still drawn, "Cook! Get down here I've got him." He shouted.

Cook walked down the stairs, "I'm following you."

"Where were you?" Willmore asked.

"Securing the first floor." Cook answered as he stood on the same level.

"Ok Mister Smolnikoff." Willmore said, "What gives?"

"I tell you… I done nothing." The Russian answered, "You have no right to come in here like this. This isn't Russia!"

"Shut up." Cook was now standing beside him, "I'll Miranda him. I spotted a thirty eight downstairs right in the left corner."

The thirty eight was exactly where Cook said it'd be. Willmore picked it up using the pen through the trigger guard and placed it in an evidence bag, "Where's the plutonium you've been smuggling." Willmore asked when he got back to where the Russian and Cook were.

"What?" Smolnikoff asked, "I've handled all sorts of things, but never that." He answered, "You are complete crazy."

"Why did you kill Wong?" Willmore interrogated him, "Because he talked to us?"

Smolnikoff looked at him, "I didn't kill Wong. I knew him. He maybe did some work for me. But I didn't kill him." He said.

"Why did you kill the TARAKAN crew?" Willmore asked.

"I didn't kill nobody." Smolnikoff answered, "They were my men. Why would I kill them? There was a fire."

"Yeah right." Cook interjected, "You set the fire to hide what you had done."

"I maybe a smuggler. So are a lot of people. But I didn't kill anybody."

"I found a payroll log that showed Wong worked for you. And we have documents that match we found downstairs." Willmore said.

"So? That proves nothing." The Russian was good that's for sure.

"What did you keep in that warehouse?"

"What do you mean?" Smolnikoff asked, "You're IN my warehouse."

"You were right, a thirty eight." Willmore showed him the weapon.

"I bet that's the same gun that killed Wong and shot Scully." Cook observed, "Give it to ballistics for a test run."

"It isn't my gun."

"Yeah, yeah." Cook commented.

* * *

_**King County Crime Lab, Seattle**_

Willmore noticed John Amis's body resting against the table, "Hey sleeping beauty!" He called out.

"Willmore?" He said as he stood up gingerly but still smiling, "How's it going?"

"Good. How are you?" Willmore looked at John sympathetically, "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so hot." John answered trying to keep up the cheery façade.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I'm coming down with the flu or something. What's up?" John said. Willmore help up the thirty eight as if it was some sort of trophy, "I suppose you want me to fire that."

"Yep, you guessed it." Willmore said.

"Great, my headache just went away." John said.

"I'm sorry." Willmore sighed, "You really don't feel good do you?"

"Nope." John said matter-of-factly, it was quite the opposite to his usual joking ways, "Let's go." Willmore could hear the gun being fired into the barrel and John soon came back in, "Exact match… All three."

"Great." Willmore said, "Thanks man. I hope you feeling better soon."

* * *

_**SMOLNIKOFF'S WAREHOUSE**_

Willmore stepped back down to where Cook was still keeping a close eye on their prisoner, "Where are the FBI agents?" Willmore asked.

"What are you talking about?" Smolnikoff asked.

"We found the woman's blood in your warehouse." Cook said. They began ganging up on the Russian.

"What warehouse?" Smolnikoff responded, "You're in my warehouse."

"Your gun shot her. We have a forensic match." Willmore said coldly.

"I kill no FBI agents."

"Alright." Cook said, "Get him downtown and we'll process him." Cook said. Smolnikoff stood up and allowed himself to be handcuffed by Cook, "We'll know more once we get this sorted out." Cook said, "We'll let local police secure the warehouse. Let's go." He took Smolnikoff outside just as Willmore's phone began to ring.

He answered the phone, "It's Amis." John's voice said over the cell, "That boat you sent me on was radioactive."

"What?" Willmore replied.

"That boat." John snapped, "The TARAKAN had dangerous levels of radioactivity. You sent me into a hot area. That's what's wrong with me, I don't have the flu… I have radiation sickness."

"Oh man, John… I am so sorry." He totally felt guilt ridden and deservedly so, "I don't know what to say."

"Just be careful in future before you get somebody killed!" Then the phone clicked off.

* * *

_**WILLMORE'S APARTMENT**_

Again it was well into the night when Willmore got to his apartment. He decided to check his email before retiring. There was one message from an Otto concerning the prints off the John Doe that the Coroner examined earlier. He searched through the records but the only thing that turned up was on the Military records but any information was tightly sealed. The sound of someone knocking on the door jolted him out of his thoughts.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Mary barged inside shouting at him. She was angry that was for sure.

"About what?" Willmore shouted back. It seemed that people only came into his apartment at night to shout him down.

"About your little raid on the smugglers!" Mary turned to face Willmore with her face etched with anger, "I had turned that case over to the task force and you two cowboys go running in, shooting up the place with so much as a phone call!" That caused Willmore to stiffen up, "Do you have any idea how stupid I looked?"

"I thought you knew about it." Willmore said calmly.

"How the hell would I have known about it?!" Mary shouted.

"Cook called you." Willmore answered.

"He did not."

"He did." Willmore responded quickly, "He said he asked for SWAT backup but they never did show." Their lives were put in jeopardy, "We could have used the support."

"Look." Mary said, "Don't lie to me." It was said with venom. Willmore hadn't lied to her. It seemed that somebody had their wires crossed somewhere, "Do you need to get that?" She said looking at the ringing phone.

"No." Willmore said, he wanted to diffuse yet another volatile situation, "The machine will pick it up."

Mary sighed angrily, "I guess I just had you all wrong." She said.

The voice came onto the answering machine, _"Agent Willmore we must meet right away. Your actions are endangering the lives of Mulder and Scully. They are alive. But they won't be for much longer unless you act quickly. This has nothing to do with Russian smugglers. Sandpoint, hangar four… Dawn. Come alone or I won't show up."_ The man then hung up and the phone fell silent once more.

"I don't know what kind of ridiculous Twilight Zone BS that you're involved with and you know what… I don't care." Mary said, still clearly annoyed, "I only came over here to tell you one thing… Smolnikoff was just released due to lack of evidence." She scoffed before heading out the door leaving Willmore alone to ponder what could have possibly lead from the almost kiss to this in one day.

* * *

_**HANGAR 4:**_

_**SAND POINT NAVAL BASE, SEATTLE**_

Willmore could see the sunlight penetrating the window to the empty hangar. The place looked so large since there was nothing there. He was tired and quite annoyed and couldn't believe he was here chasing some lead brought forth by a mysterious phone call from a stranger. There were puddles of water everywhere, it just wasn't empty, but abandoned. Cold, dark lonely. Willmore looked around but couldn't see anybody, he walked through a door and even further into the Hangar. He had his hand on the gun attached to his side, having it ready to use it if the situation called for it.

A black man approached him, "Agent Willmore." He said, "I'm glad to see you took my advice and came alone. Perhaps you're not as inept as I thought."

"So, it's the mystery man." Willmore said, "I was expecting someone a little more Sean Connery." He couldn't help but smile slightly.

"I think that'd be quite enough Agent Willmore." X told him coldly. Clearly he was annoyed, "We don't have much time. So I want you to listen to me very carefully. Most important thing, you can't tell anybody that I was here or that we spoke… No one." X made it clear, "Not Cook, not Shanks nor that Seattle Police Detective that you've been teamed up with… Do you understand? I need your word on this Agent Willmore."

"You have my word." He wasn't sure if he could trust the mystery black man at all.

"Good." It was barely a whisper, "Listen very carefully to what I have to tell you, lives are at stake including your own. Mulder and Scully are alive."

"So you said." Willmore wore his poker face as he did listen intently.

"But they won't be much longer if you don't do something about it." X told him, "Scully and Mulder are not together. You need to find a Jane Doe who checked into a Prespitarian Hospital in Goldbar three days ago. She's about to be released. This has nothing… I repeat nothing to do with smuggled Soviet plutonium."

"I had a feeling that that was the case." Smuggling was something that Mary had been pushing. He'd always doubted that.

"Listen to me." X said in a very distinct tone, "If you're going to help Scully and Mulder, you're going to need something more than a gun." Willmore's hand went towards his own gun when X reached into his pocket. X pulled out a stiletto and showed it to Willmore, "Men have died in order to possess this. I'm going to loan it to you for a short time because without it, there's no way you could survive." He handed Willmore the stiletto, "The man Mulder and Scully were looking for and the man you need to find if you're going to save him can only be killed by inserting this blade into the base of his neck."

"Who is he?" Willmore asked. It'd help if he had the name.

"This man is not what he seems." X answered, "If the injury is not precise… He will kill you. Do NOT try firing a gun, do not do anything but use that blade. If anybody discovers you have it… You're a dead man."

X backed away before turning around to leave the area, "Just don't forget the Jane Doe at Goldbar." Was the last thing he said.

Just as X left he could hear footsteps approaching, without thinking Willmore turned around with his gun drawn, "Whoa." Mary put her hands half way up, "Take it easy it's me."

"I can see that." Willmore replied holstering his weapon.

"You get grumpy when your ass is ran ragged don't you?" Mary smiled.

Willmore gave a very slight snicker, "What are you doing here?" He was meant to come alone and it seemed that Mary may have jeopardized something without knowing.

"Are you kidding?" Mary answered, "After that phone message… I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

"Well you better be careful or he may run your ass ragged." Willmore said flatly.

"I wouldn't mind that." Mary said, "He's kind of cute."

"Cute?" He knew that he was getting baited, "Precious springs to mind."

"So we kind of have a lot to talk about don't we?" Mary asked.

"Yep… I guess we do." A lot can happen in a short space of time, "But first… Jane Doe in Gold Bar."

A/N: Well next chapter... Scully will be in it. LOL


	10. Chapter 10

_**GOLDBAR HOSPITAL**_

Willmore and Mary walked down the hall towards a waiting nurse. This hospital seemed to be relatively quiet. It didn't seem to have too many doctors or even patients.

"Hello." The nurse greeted them in a friendly tone, "May I ask your business here?"

"We're looking for Dana Scully." Willmore answered hoping that honesty was the sure way to go.

"And who might you be?" She eyed them suspiciously.

"I'm with the FBI." Willmore answered. Usually they wouldn't allow any visits from a family member but decided to stick with the truth.

"Can I see some identification?" The nurse asked. Willmore pulled out his FBI badge and showed it to her while Mary showed her badge off, "Ah I see." The nurse responded, "Do you recall the name of her immediate superior? I need to phone him and I've misplaced the information."

Was this a game of twenty questions? "Walter Skinner." Willmore answered right away.

"This is her room behind me." The nurse said quickly.

"How is her wound?" Willmore asked.

"It's healing." The nurse answered, "It was mostly superficial as for her other condition I have no idea how to account for it."

"Is she ready to leave yet?"

"Oh, I wouldn't think so." The nurse said, "Moving wouldn't be life threatening. But she might not find it very pleasant."

"What other condition?" Willmore looked at Mary then back at the nurse.

"I haven't been able to diagnose it yet." The nurse said, "So I've been treating the symptoms. Lethargy, nausea, dehydration, memory loss."

"Has anyone else come to see her?" Willmore enquired. Maybe the mysterious black man or any other strange men he thought.

"Oh no, thank God you're the first." The nurse answered.

"How'd she get here?"

"She was brought in." The Nurse answered.

"By whom?" Mary asked.

"We're what used to be called a sanitarium Detective." The Nurse said, "We're not bound by the same strictures as a normal hospital… Nor will we follow them. We pride ourselves on discretion for the patient. So the better they can heal." Well she had a good point there and that point might have been the only thing that saved her. The nurse allowed them to walk past her and into Scully's hospital room.

Scully lay in bed and immediately looked at Willmore and Mary with extreme suspicion, "Are you Dana Scully?" Willmore asked. He was slightly disheartened not to see Agent Mulder beside her bed.

Scully immediately got out via the far side of the bed, "Who are you?" She asked.

"Assistant Director Skinner asked us to look for you." Willmore tried to speak quickly because Scully was obviously becoming distressed.

"I didn't realize I was lost." Scully replied, "Who are you?"

"Agent Willmore." Willmore answered.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Scully asked. Willmore kept feeling like he was getting the third degree again, "Who told you I was here?"

"A black man." Willmore answered.

"What black man?" Scully shot back quickly.

"We don't know his name." Mary answered.

"That's ridiculous." Scully commented, "You better explain yourself or I'm calling for help." She reached down for the buzzer on the wall.

"The man who gave me this." Willmore pulled out the stiletto and listened to the phhht sound as he extended the blade. Scully withdrew her hand from the buzzer and looked at him.

"Alright." She said slowly.

"He told me I couldn't tell anyone about it." Willmore said. Remembering back to what the black man had told him.

"Let's talk." Scully said as she went around to the near side of the bed but still wore that stern, distrustful look she sat down on the bed.

"How do you feel?" Willmore asked her.

"Very weak." Scully answered, "But I actually feel a lot better than I did when I first came in here."

"Do you have any idea where Mulder is?"

"I have no idea." Scully answered, "But we need to find him."

"Could you have…? Radiation poisoning?" Willmore thought carefully before asking.

"God, I hope not." Scully said, "But I suppose the symptoms do add up."

Willmore pulled out the stiletto once again, "What is this used for?" He asked.

"You shouldn't show that quite so openly." It was a warning, "I don't know what it's used for. Perhaps Mulder can tell you." Well he'd be happy to ask Mulder if he could find him.

"Where does the TARAKAN fit into all this?" Willmore wondered, half expecting Mary to pop up with her Smugglers theory.

"One way or the other, I think they were involved in smuggling." Great! Willmore thought, Mary's going to have a field day with that one, "I think there was an accident at sea with plutonium… Mulder thinks they were killed by an E.B.E."

"EBE?" Mary got in first with the question.

"Extraterrestrial Biological Entity." Scully answered in one breath.

"What happened in the warehouse?" Willmore attempted to ignore the last thing about EBE's.

"Mulder and I observed some suspicious traffic in and out of the warehouse, we went in to investigate, we were attacked by a number of armed men and I was shot. There was an odd light." Scully recalled evenly, "Mulder carried me outside of the warehouse… I blacked out and I woke up here."

"What did the autopsy on the crewmen reveal?"

"The crew had all been exposed to a level of radiation consistent with a large scale nuclear blast." Mary and Willmore exchanged glances, "Clearly that didn't happen. Now Mulder took that as proof that a UFO had landed in the area and that an alien life aboard the craft had eradicated the TARAKAN crew."

"I take it you don't subscribe to that theory." Mary said. Willmore and Mary had a tough time even thinking that it was at all plausible.

"It was always an alternate explanation." Scully replied, "I'm afraid that's all I have to offer." She said, "What can you two tell me?"

Willmore thought for a moment before answering, there was a lot to sift through, "Well there have been other burn victims."

Scully had a solemn look, "I hope that doesn't mean plutonium's being transported." She replied.

"There's an unidentified man involved." Willmore rubbed the side of his jacket, "We encountered him at the burn site then later again at the hauling yard."

"We found a connection between warehouse and the hauling yard." Mary said, "It's a trucking outfit in Charno… Gordon's hauling. They've made numerous deliveries from a warehouse to rural route but we haven't had a chance to investigate." As Mary said this, Willmore was studying Scully seeing if she'd already known.

"Seems to me we really need to find the identity of the man from the hauling yard." Scully interpreted the information, "And that you two need to pay a visit to the rural route address."

"What are you going to do?" Mary asked.

"First thing I'm going to do is get in touch with Assistant Director Skinner. Then I'm going to check out of here and I can meet up with you later at your field office, but I think we have to hurry. Agent Mulder maybe running out of time and if the smugglers do have him held hostage they have little incentive to keep him alive."

Willmore pulled out the photo of Smolnikoff to show to Scully, "Is this the man that shot you?" He asked.

"No." Scully answered confidently, "I've never seen him before."

* * *

_**RURAL ROUTE 1121 Fante County, Washington**_

Willmore and Mary stepped out of their car and into what looked like the train yards. He looked at the sky and it was beginning to look bleak and grey, "That little PDA of yours was right." Mary said lightly, "I'm impressed."

"Hey, I'm not afraid of technology." Willmore replied as they walked in further. It just looked like endless rows of train cars.

"What are we looking for again?" Mary asked.

"A rearview panel for 64 car." Willmore answered. It looked like a scrapheap to him.

"Something with number 82434 on it right?" Mary asked.

"That's the idea." Willmore said, "Looks like we got our work cut out for us." They both looked around before going there separate ways. Eventually Willmore walked down the row until he reached a telephone pole. With it's handles sticking out the side of the pole it was relatively easy to climb… The FBI never had anything about climbing telephone poles in it's manual. The whole pole seemed to wobble with each step. Willmore used the binoculars to look on the top of the train cars. There was one silver car that had the number 82434 on its top. After getting that information, he climbed back down and headed to it.

"Who's theory do you believe?" Willmore asked Mary when they met back up, "Mulder's or Scully's?"

"Scully's obviously a by the book agent." She emphasized agent, "It's great to hear of a detective that's a creative thinker. I'm looking forward to meeting Agent Mulder."

"What could they use this place for?" Willmore asked.

"Are you kidding?" Mary asked, "I'm surprised the operation was this big, the thought of plutonium travelling around the country by rail is pretty terrifying." Mary continued. Yeah, it did sound bleak alright.

"Especially considering the anthrax record." Willmore said. He was beginning to sound as bad as she did.

"Yeah." Mary gave a nervous laugh.

"This place is deserted. It looks like nobody's used these boxcars in years." Willmore paid no attention to the laugh.

"This car's been burned." Mary said as she rubbed the door revealing the black dust that came off it.

Willmore and Mary entered the rail car with a great degree of caution. The place was very smoky. It seemed the fire was recent, "Obviously this fire's recent." Mary commented while trying not to breathe in the smoke, "This looks like an operating room or something."

There was some sort of table with a light looking down from above. Mary was right, that's exactly what it looked like. There didn't seem to be anything of interest in there so they stepped outside once again. Willmore heard their car door shut, "Hey!" Willmore yelled out. Mary came around the other side and they was able to corner the homeless man.

"I di'n't do nothin'." The man said as he leant against the red rail car. Obviously, he was homeless because his face was covered by an inch of dirt.

"Nobody said you did." Mary replied trying to keep a good distance away from him.

"Is this your home?" Willmore asked.

"Home… Home is where the heart is." He sung out.

"That was informative." Mary commented, unsure whether to feel sorry for him or just be annoyed.

"See anything strange around here?" Willmore asked.

"Just the two o you." He answered, "And the bird o course."

"He's nuts." Mary said.

"What is this place used for?" Willmore was going to probe him for something.

"Well Don. The boyscouts conduct covert operations out here." The man answered biting down on his nails to trim them.

"Have you seen any men in suits or uniforms running around?"

"Oh yeah all the time." The man wouldn't stop playing with his nails.

"Really?" Willmore asked.

"Snivelling toadies trying to rob me of my sugar fortune." Mary wasn't doing a good job of hiding her smile. She was just finding this too funny.

"There's been a fire in a boxcar back there recently." Willmore asked, "Do you know anything about that?"

"Sure Don." He answered, "I saw the guys who set it."

Mary's face lit up, "What did they look like?" She asked.

"Loveless yuppies in cheap suits." The man answered, "Two of them. They went to that car back there and set fire to it." The man looked up at Willmore, "Right in my backyard, can you believe that? I have some stuff Don." The man began flossing his teeth. Willmore grimaced at the sight, "Got it out of the burnt car, you may want it."

"What kind of stuff?" Willmore just wished he would stop.

"From the boxcar?"

"Yeah the boxcar." Willmore said.

"You tell me Don… What kind of stuff do I have?" The man asked back.

"Photographs." Willmore said the first thing he thought of.

"Photos? Not saying yes, not saying no. You're in the neighborhood."

"Moving pictures." Willmore wasn't really in the mood for this game.

"Yesss." The man answered, "And no."

"Videotape?" Willmore was clearly getting annoyed at having to play this game.

"Yes Sir. We have a winner. A videotape it is." He pulled out a small cassette tape, "Congratulations." Mary was about to grab it, "That was great. Thank you. That was fun. Ten bucks."

Stuff this Willmore thought so he pulled out his wallet to show him his ID. But before he knew it… It had been taken out of his hand and it disappeared, "Mary…" He mouthed to her but wasn't going to willingly admit that some bum stole his wallet. So Mary paid the bum ten dollars for the videotape.

"Pleasure doing business with you." The man said before leaving.

"Thanks." Willmore replied.


	11. Chapter 11

_**FBI FIELD OFFICE, SEATTLE**_

Willmore's PDA told him that he had mail to check. Since he was closer to the Field Office than home, he decided to check their computer. Mary followed him into the building. She was filled with trepidation because this was the first time she had been in such a building and was awestruck. She followed him to his office and leant over behind him as he sat down at the computer.

"Put it in." Mary said.

Willmore placed the small videotape into the slot beside the computer so that it would load and be played on the computer. Mark Cook walked around the table to stand by the other side of Willmore, "What's up?" He asked.

"Mark Cook… Mary Astadourian. Mary Astadourian… Mark Cook." Willmore introduced them without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Nice to meet you." Mary said to cook.

Cook leant in for a closer look as well.

_People that were dressed as Doctors were working on something that looked like a makeshift operating theatre where they were working on something. It looked like they were operating on some sort of man. A man that was closest to the camera removed his mask as the others checked a machine in the background. There was no clear view of what was lying on the operating table._

"Ok." Mary said, "Somebody's obviously cutting into something. What do these medical experiments have to do with Russian smugglers?"

Willmore still didn't look away, "And if this guy's a surgeon what was he looking for at Gordon's Hauling?" He asked.

"What was that experiment being performed on?" Mary asked. They were just rebounding questions and hoped for theories.

"I don't know. Whatever it was, the patient didn't look human." Willmore almost chose not to say it. But he was just vocalizing what they were thinking.

"Is there anyway to ID the good doctor there?" Mary suggested that that could be possible.

"Yeah all you have to do is take a frame of the video and match it to the database." Cook pointed to the screen, "And that will be that."

"Alright." Mary said, "Let's do it."

Willmore captured a really good video frame and decided to try with the military/Government option of the databases since that was more likely what the guy was. The name Colonel Johnathon Rauch came up and he was a military surgeon born in 1950. That was the man they were looking for.

"Bingo." Willmore said, "Ok. What have we here, a Johnathon Rauch?"

"That's him alright." Mary confirmed it, "Wow." Suddenly the computer started beeping at Willmore loudly, "What's that?" Mary asked.

"Somebody's trying to establish a video conferencing link." Cook answered her.

"Ah what the hell? I've never tried to use this thing before." Willmore clicked on the connect tab that had flashed on the screen. The screen came to life and three men were adjusting their webcams

"Agent Willmore?" Frohike asked.

"Yes." Willmore answered as he leant forward.

"Ah, we're in the right place." Frohike said.

"How did you get this address?" Willmore asked. He wasn't sure if he could trust the trio but there was something oddly familiar about the short guy's voice.

"We assumed you had the standard issue bureau box on your desktop and all those are equipped for dual video conferencing though nobody uses it." Langly explained though most of it shot right over Willmore's head, "So we just looked you up in the Peek-A-Boo White Pages. Which lists DNS and every IP address in every Peek-A-Boo flip machine in the country." He continued, "Pretty straightforward really… Want Janet Reno's number?" Langly asked as he leant closer to the camera.

"No… I… I'll pass thanks." Willmore thought hard about it for about a sec.

"Are you sure?" Langly asked, "She keeps the computer in the bedroom."

"Who are you?" Willmore asked thinking about what would be happening if Mary wasn't right beside him.

"Friends of Agent Scully." Byers answered.

Frohike leaned forward, "Some of us are more than friends." He said.

"She asked us to contact you." Langly said.

Willmore's eyes were darting back and forth from the stiff in the suit, to the greasy looking character then to the hippy. How could Agent Scully possibly know these three mismatched trio? "What do you want?" Willmore was getting impatient.

"Agent Scully contacted us with information about the case you're working on." Byers said.

"Based on what Dana told us." Frohike said, "We believe that there is a top secret facility in Alaska."

"Ok… What's the big deal about Alaska?" Willmore asked.

"This facility is used as a Nexus point for most of the government's west coast boxcar work. If this is true… Mulder's in incredible danger." Langly said. Willmore wondered why the guy just couldn't speak English.

"This facility was built in the early 60s." Byers continued, "We think they chose Alaska so they can use the Aurora boyoualis to hide UFO traffic in and out of the base." He stood closer to the cam, "We also think that an Alien craft recovered in the Pacific is stored there."

"What's boxcar work?" Willmore asked.

It seemed that Frohike had his turn to speak again, "Ah, one of the great unspoken secrets. The government has a massive network of rural cars which they can use for surgical gear and foraging facilities."

"Boxcars have a two-fold purpose." Byers said before Langly interrupted. Couldn't just one of them tell the story? Why'd they need all three?

"They allow the government to pick up and transport stray EBE's." Langly said. Willmore couldn't believe that these guys were serious, "And they serve as a mobile base of operations for a series of genetic experiments."

"What kind of GENETIC experiments?" Willmore asked. Though that's what they must have been looking at on the videotape.

"Cross polonization of the human race." Frohike answered, "Intermingling human DNA with genetic material from EBE's."

"I'm afraid I don't believe this." Mary replied to Willmore, "Suddenly I'm Barbara Bangly and you're Martin Landau."

Willmore quickly glanced at her, "Where is Mulder?" He asked the trio.

"We're not sure." Byers answered once everyone looked at him, "Knowing Mulder if there's a trail leading to this facility… He's following it. Scully mentioned an unidentified man that was of some concern. Did you manage to determine his identity?"

"Yeah." Willmore was willing to share some information, "Doctor Johnathon Rauch… Navy surgeon."

"Where's he stationed?" Frohike asked.

"Eisenhower Field Alaska." Willmore answered.

"Oh yeah. That's the guy." Langly replied quickly, "He served a stint in Persky West Virginia?"

"Yes." Cook answered.

"This is bad." Langly shook his head at the others.

"Listen you have to get there." Byers said, "Mulder may not have much time. First to Rauch's house then onto the secret base."

"Ok… How do I get to the base?" Willmore was dreading that there wasn't going to be an answer. Somehow he'd have to find out on his own.

"Well Scully said you had a PDA?" Langly asked for confirmation.

"Yeah."

"Great." Langly replied, "I'll email you the GPS coordinates of the base."

"There's a fax." Mary went to the fax machine and went back to the desk before reading, "A Canadian Border guard was found dead this morning from massive unexplained burns and Mulder's rental car was observed crossing the Canadian border into Alaska." Mary shook her head slightly, "I don't believe this."

"Well that's it then." Byers said after listening to Mary.

"No doubt about it." Langly added, "You're going to have to get there A S A P. I just uploaded the GPS data." They turned their webcam off and the computer screen turned black again.

"Right." Cook said, "If you want to keep Mulder alive… We better get moving. You head over Rauch's and I'll charter a flight oh I'm going to be too busy keeping things nailed down here. I'll get Juno Field office to back you up. Can you charter a flight for this man?" Cook asked Mary.

"Sure I can do that." Mary replied.

"Good." Cook said, "Let's go." He then left Willmore's office.

"You want a window or an aisle seat." Mary asked smiling.

"You should come with me." Willmore said to her quietly.

"I don't think so." She shook her head.

"Why not?" Willmore asked, "It's your case to."

"Yeah." She replied slowly, "It's a little outside of my jurisdiction. Besides, I have real detective work to do. You be safe."

"I will." Willmore responded.

* * *

_**RAUCH'S House, Alaska**_

Willmore waited inside his car when he observed a man briskly walking and stepping into the white 4-wheel drive and speeding off, kicking up gravel as the tires spun. Willmore had his weapon drawn when he searched through the house. It seemed that the only occupant had driven away. He walked up the stairs when he noticed Rauch lying on the floor so he checked for a pulse. Rauch's body was covered in a thin layer of oil.

"Where's Mulder?" Willmore asked the man but got no response, "Hey! Wake up! What happened to you?" But got absolutely no response still. He looked up and saw a small skeleton hanging from the roof and he pulled on it, thus pulling down the ladder leading up to the attic. When he eventually climbed it he saw Agent Mulder lying on the floor with his hands and feet bound.

"Geez man do I know you?" Mulder asked as Willmore began untying him.

"Cable guy." Willmore answered with a smirk, "Are you alright?"

"No." Mulder answered.

"What's the matter?" Willmore asked in a concerned tone.

"My foot's gone to sleep." Mulder answered with a hint of discomfort.

"Humph." Willmore grunted smiling. Mulder sat on the floor sitting comfortably for a few moments, "Agent Willmore FBI." He said. Then realized that he no longer had his badge.

"Funny, I mistook you for a spook." Mulder said.

"I've been looking for you." The small laughter was out of relief that the case was over. He'd finally completed his task.

"Wow you found me." He replied coldly.

"I've spoken with Scully."

"How is she?" Mulder asked.

"She's better." Willmore answered, "She's out of the hospital."

"It's a sanitarium." Mulder corrected, "I dropped her off there after she was shot in the warehouse. I called Seattle office for more backup but all they sent me was, was more cleaners from the NSA"

"Who'd you speak to?" Willmore asked.

"I didn't have time to ask. We barely got away. I… I didn't want to notify anybody of Scully's whereabouts." Mulder was rubbing his feet, "Because I didn't know who I could trust."

"How'd you get here?" Willmore looked around. This place looked like it was in the middle of nowhere.

"I was in a rail yard when Rauch kidnapped me and stole my car." Mulder answered, "I always wanted to see the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately there's not much view from the trunk of the car."

Jesus… Even in this situation the guy was being funny, "Rauch is downstairs." Willmore said.

"You're kidding?" He said loudly, "He didn't flame you?"

Umm, no. Obviously not, "I beg your pardon." Willmore said.

"What condition is he in?" Mulder asked.

"Uh, unconscious and covered in 40 rate motor oil." Willmore answered.

"Oh Rauch." Mulder smiled mischievously, "Yeah, he always did have a kinky streak."

"Let me guess." Willmore said, "Was this rail yard on Rural Route 1121?" He asked Mulder while trying not to laugh at the lame joking.

"You got it." Mulder answered, "They use it as a staging area."

"Yeah so I've been told." Willmore replied.

"Frohike sends his love." Well Frohike did say that some of them were more than just friends after all.

"Well, you're quite the social butterfly." Mulder commented, "Frohike, Rauch, Scully… Do you know Skinner?" He asked.

"Yeah." Willmore nodded, "He sent me on the case."

"I should've known." Mulder nodded back.

"Why did Rauch kidnap you?" That was the big question now.

"Rauch is a navy surgeon and involved in alien experimentation." Mulder answered. Yeah, Willmore had already received that theory from the others, "The alien that controlled him or that controls him crashed into the sea two months ago."

Willmore couldn't believe his ears. This was coming straight out of the mouth of an FBI agent, "You did say the alien that controlled him." Willmore wanted to make sure he had heard right.

"Well there's a species of alien that can use humans as hosts… The parasite completely takes over the target human." Mulder explained, "Even gaining access to the knowledge that the human possesses. The only way you can tell the difference is there's a thin film of black oil that swims over the victim's eyes." Willmore still had a hard time taking him seriously. This was so far fetched, "The crew of the TARAKAN came across one of these foul aliens. It probably nuked them. The government apprehended it in one of their boxcars. Somebody screwed up and it escaped."

"Yeah, Rauch had that same black film over his eyes." Willmore realized that there was nothing wrong with the pupils of Rauch at the night of the bomb explosion.

"Yeah, you're lucky he didn't try to kill you." Mulder said coldly, "I'm pretty sure the alien's just trying to get back to it's ship. That's why it used Rauch to get here. But I have no idea where that ship might be."

"As I came up, I saw a man in black fatigues leaving the house." Willmore said trying to fill in the gaps that Mulder had left.

"We got to catch up with him." Mulder said, "He's the new host. But we have to figure out where they're headed."

"I know." Willmore said with some pride, "I was given the location to some secret facility by 3 men by video-link conference."

"Well that sounds like a reliable source." Mulder commented lowering his voice.

Willmore's phone began to ring so he answered it. He raised an eyebrow since he didn't recognize the number, "Yes." He said.

"Agent Willmore? It's Dana Scully." Scully said on the other end, "Where are you?"

"Juno Alaska." Willmore replied.

"Have you found Mulder?" She asked.

"Yeah… He's right here." Willmore answered.

"Thank God." Scully replied, "Can I talk to him?"

Willmore handed the phone over to Mulder, "It's Scully." Willmore said.

"Scully." Mulder said into the phone, "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to Juno." Scully said.

"Who's your travel agent?" Mulder asked.

"Byers, Langly and Frohike." She answered matter-of-factly.

"God love 'em." Mulder commented, "Do you have your cell phone?"

"Yes." Scully answered.

"Alright… I'll call you back." Mulder hung up the phone, "Alright then, let's get going." Mulder got off the floor and climbed to his feet. They were about to leave when the sound of car doors slamming could be heard. Mulder looked out the window and was soon joined by Willmore.

"Great." Mulder commented, "Looks like we got some unwanted company."

"NSA?" Willmore asked.

"That or Jehova Witnesses." Mulder commented on the suits, "I need you to keep them busy long enough for me to meet Scully at the facility." Mulder formulated the plan as they kept their eyes on the people outside, "Then you come along and meet us there."

"Hang on." Willmore cut him short, "I was assigned to find you and Scully." Mulder nodded as Willmore continued talking, "I've done that. I'm outta here."

"What kind of attitude is that?" Mulder asked turning to him, "The story's not over yet. Don't you want wait around for the payoff?" Mulder then left the attic.


	12. Chapter 12

_**SECRET BASE ALASKA**_

Willmore had managed to sneak around through the back door of the house and take out the two NSA men by catching them off guard. He was totally shocked to find how easy it was to just waltz onto a secret base. It seems that security is very much lacking these days he thought as he also remembered the nonexistent security at the Hauling yard.

Scully was examining one of the bodies on the ground. Apparently, the reason for the poor security was that somebody or something had already torn through it, "These burns match those of the others." Scully said running short of breath, "Mulder's gone up ahead. I don't believe we have much time."

Willmore walked through the maze of bodies as he tried not to step on any and Scully occasionally knelt down and checked on. There were no sounds of anything going on and it seemed that all the lights were on the fritz as well since some of them were only blinking in an annoying matter. He held out his gun as he followed the endless trail of bodies. Someone ahead of him stood to his feet… That someone was Agent Mulder.

"I need your help Scully." Mulder said to Scully who was following Willmore, "I need two of these keys to get past the blast doors and into the storage chamber. I need for you to help me."

There seemed like there was something odd about Mulder, Willmore could feel it. He looked at Scully then Mulder waiting for either of them to say something. Then Willmore caught a glimpse of it, there was the black film swimming all over the eyes.

"Run." Willmore turned to Scully. It took a moment for it to register before she took his advice.

They had split up, Willmore had almost ran right into a gunman in one of the rooms but was able to shoot him before the man had a chance to react to his presence. He met up with Scully who had run into an adjoining room and he could see her through the glass.

"Willmore." She said as she entered the same room he was in, "Any sign of Mulder?"

Willmore looked around just to make sure, "No." He said.

"I haven't seen him either." Scully replied, "What was he talking about? Why is he looking for a key?" Willmore tried to get a word in, "And what kind of key? He said something about a storage chamber. I have to figure out why he's behaving this way and somehow get him out of here." Scully said.

They separated once again, Willmore continued down the winding corridor and stopped to look in the main control room. Even the security screens in there were on the fritz and only showing a snowy picture. The whole facility seemed eerily empty, devoid of life.

Something got his attention in the adjoining room so he walked in to check it out. On a table was a cattle prod, "What the?" Willmore mouthed as he picked it up. He put it back down. This place was just getting weirder by the minute. Someone grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against the table then to the ground and was now pointing a gun at him. It was then he realized that it was his partner, Mark Cook.

"You just couldn't let it go could you?" Cook said, "It was getting taken care of… But no, you just had to come out here… You just had to be the hero. But just realize that most heroes get themselves killed."

Willmore was able to reach his arm up and grab the cattle prod. He used it on Cook which sent shockwaves through his body and rendered him unconscious. He threw the cattle prod at Cook. If he didn't have something more important to do, he'd probably lay into him then, "Damn you Cook." Willmore said coldly.

He walked into an area that had a large glass cage which had two doors, one on either side. Suddenly, Scully popped out of the shadows with a gun pointed at him. But then put it away once she realized that it was him.

"Whoa it's you." Scully said and Willmore was able to breathe a sigh of relief, "I have no idea with what's wrong with Mulder. I think he's in some kind of…" Willmore began to fade out when Scully began using scientific mumbo jumbo, "If we can leer him into the isolation chamber… We contain him until I figure out a way to treat him."

"Ok." Willmore said, "How are we going to do that?"

"First of all… We need to locate the other key that Mulder was looking for." She answered, "Now whatever's in that room is protected by some sort of blast door. It looks to me as if the door is operated by two keypads. Both keys need to be turned simultaneously just like launching a nuclear missile. Now there's a key guard in the corner of the room, maybe if I distract him you can come up behind him and knock him out." Scully said, "But first off, we need to get the isolation chamber powered up."

Willmore went to walk away to find the power up switches. It didn't take him long to find them. Then Willmore opened the doors to both sides of the glass isolation chamber before meeting back up with Scully.

"Let's hope this works." Scully said with caution, "Any particular direction you'd like to take?"

Willmore took the direction to the right just in time to see Mulder and a guard insert their perspective keys into the slots. Before they were able to turn their keys, Willmore stepped out from his corner and shot the guard. He then grabbed the key and began making his way to the isolation chamber with Mulder stalking him. He didn't dare to turn around and make sure nor did he dare to run.

He walked through the isolation chamber and turned around to close the door on him. Scully did the same thing on her end and they had successfully trapped Mulder in the chamber. Mulder screamed and pounded on the glass door before falling silent. Scully and Willmore watched in shock and awe as oil oozed from Mulder, seemingly searching for the new host.

Cook had come out from nowhere and grabbed Willmore. He could see the black film swimming over Cook's eyes now. He was the new host. Cook grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to the blast door before shoving Willmore in front of the keypad with such force that Willmore grunted in pain. Cook went to the side that Mulder had taken beforehand. He was ready for the key to be turned.

Willmore saw Scully walk behind Cook so he took out the stiletto from his pocket and lobbed it over to her. Luckily she had caught it and he watched her extend the blade and drove it into the base of Cook's skull. Willmore knew it had to be done, but hearing the inhuman scream followed by silence was still sickening. Cook slumped to the ground and the oil formed a lifeless puddle.

* * *

_**FBI FIELD OFFICE, SEATTLE**_

Willmore sat in SAIC Shanks' office after just telling him what had just happened which included the thing with Cook the endless supply of bodies as well as the details about the case, "Agent Willmore." Shanks said to him in a fatherly tone, "I know you're upset by what's transpired. We're all affected when one of our own goes bad."

"I never saw it coming." Willmore said. Perhaps the signs were there and he just was blind to it. Just small things what people had said and passing comments that were made. Maybe he chose to ignore it. Shanks acted like he didn't see it coming either, "Mark was my friend."

"I should have been more attentive perhaps." Shanks said, "None of us are at fault."

"Except Agent Cook himself." Scully's voice came from the doorway.

"Hello." Shanks greeted Scully, "Come in. It's good to finally see you face to face."

"I just wanted to say goodbye." Scully said, "I spoke to Detective Astadourian, apparently they searched Cook's apartment and found my laptop… It seems that Cook staged the break in here to make it look like he'd been attacked."

"Well." Shanks said, "It seems that Agents Mulder and Scully have been talking to Assistant Director Skinner about you."

"Yeah." Scully said, "It seems that your work has received quite a bit of attention at the Bureau, you have a big fan in Assistant Director Skinner." Willmore couldn't help but give a little smile at this.

"I must admit that some of what I have heard sounds a bit… Fantastic." Shanks commented in a friendly tone, "To put it mildly."

"Yes sir. I agree." Willmore said.

"I'll have to plead the fifth on that." Scully said with a smile, "Anyway I've got a plane to catch but Agent Mulder wanted me to tell you… That his foot has woken up." She said in a confused tone.

"That's a relief." Willmore laughed softly.

"Anyway… I wanted to say thank you." Scully extended her hand.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Willmore shook her hand. After Scully had left, Willmore sat back down in the seat in front of Shanks.

"You look a little ragged around the edges." Shanks observed, "Why don't you go home and get some sleep. I'll see you here tomorrow first thing in the morning. Oh and I expect your report on this matter to show up when you do."

"Yes sir." Willmore nodded as he stood up and went to leave.

"Oh and Detective Astadourian said she had some paperwork for you to sign. She said she'd drop it by your place." Shanks said, "I told her she can send it here. She seemed adamant about dropping it off to you directly."

"Yes sir." Willmore replied.

* * *

Willmore was about to enter his apartment when someone stopped him outside, "Agent Willmore." A familiar voice said.

"I guess I know what you want." Willmore said to X, "Hold on a second, I'll go and get it." He turned to walk inside.

"I think not." X said in an emotionless tone, "You better keep it… You're going to need it again… Soon."

Then X disappeared into the darkness. Willmore shook his head, he couldn't believe that there were men like him around, ones that hid in the shadows.

* * *

_**EPILOGUE!**_

Willmore had taken half the following day off. He'd handed in the report that had taken him most of the night. Frankly it was probably the worst report he'd ever written, it hadn't even been spellchecked and he didn't really care if Shanks cared anyway. But there was no argument from his superior. Willmore laid his head on the pillow in his apartment and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"_Why Agent Willmore" Cook said to him. His black eyes peering deeply. Again, the hands were clasped around his throat and there was nothing he could do. They were holding Willmore in place. The bomb blast that almost killed him and Mary had gone off again. He still could feel the heat from the flames. But damn he couldn't move at all. Cook still had a hold of him, "Agent Willmore. Willmore." Cook kept saying his name over again but not giving him a chance to answer._

Willmore woke up from the nightmare but still couldn't move. Someone had him by the shoulders, "Craig Willmore?" The voice wasn't that of Cook's but it was Mary's voice, "Wake up Willmore."

He opened his eyes, "Mary?" He asked, "What are you doing here? How'd you get in?"

"Your door was unlocked." Mary answered, "When I heard you crying out I thought you were in trouble."

"No." Willmore said as he got out of bed, "What you got in your hand?" Mary was holding a large plastic bag.

"Chinese takeaway." Mary held the bag up.

"Ah, my savior." Willmore laughed.

"Yeah…" Mary laughed back, "After we have this… You want to do some tampering with the evidence?" Willmore just lowered his head as he ate, "You want to talk about it Craig.?" She asked.

They both stood up, "I know he turned bad. He just… I don't know." Mary rubbed his shoulder in comfort, "But to see someone die like that. That scream. He was bad I know, but he was a friend." He was choking on his own words, "The bomb that almost blew us up, being thrown around at times, running all over the place." He could feel everything crumbling, it just wasn't how a male agent was suppose to act, "I made John sick, I lost a good friend and I just don't know." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Hey it's ok." Mary allowed him to cry into her shoulder, "Don't forget you gained a good friend to." She felt him nod into her shoulder.

He quickly pulled away, "I know this is not how a guy should act." Willmore said, "But I thank you. I think I needed that." He managed a half-smile, "But I think I will tamper with the evidence now."


End file.
